There is a Future
by Scarred Rose
Summary: Another story about how Rosette and Chrno come to be together after the final battle. Manga based, but no real spoilers after volume 6. Now with more lime!
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone:)

Before we get started, let's clear some stuff up. First off, this is going to be manga based, but as ADV is being really slow releasing volumes 7 and 8 (a pox upon their feet!)and I'm being a good little monkey and waiting for it to come out legally, I don't know what happens after volume 6. I've seen the anime, trainwreck that it is, so I'm inferring from that and some hints that my not-so-patient-already-read-the-ending friends have been dropping me. So, like the summary says, no real spoilers after volume 6. I don't know what's going to happen, so I'm guessing (please be nice with reviews... if you review at all...)

Also, if anyone gives the ending of the series away to me, I will find you and break your legs :)

And on that note...

The first chapter! Yay!

Disclaimer: Scarred Rose doesn't own Chrno Crusade. (sigh)

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Everything was gray and fuzzy. As her vision slowly cleared she realized that she had fallen, and was now supporting herself on her hands and knees. It felt like her head was in a cloud, and she slowly lifted her right hand and pressed it to her temple, almost losing her balance and falling as she did so.

Feeling a sudden pressure on her shoulder and glancing to the left, she recognized Azmaria, who was stooped over her and desperately trying to tell her something. Sister Rosette shook her head slightly to clear the ringing in her ears and tried looking at the small girl next to her again, only to almost fall flat on her face in shock.

Behind the girl stood Joshua, tall, lean, and with a tattered piece of cloth tied around his head. He was looking forward silently with an intent gaze, and Rosette could see a large spot of blood seeping through the ragged bandana right above his ear. Azmaria's words had begun to penetrate through the deafening silence in her head, and Rosette reluctantly tore her gaze off of her brother to look back into the frightened girl's face. Realizing that she was on the brink of tears Rosette forced herself to focus.

"…sette, Rosette!"

She nodded vaguely to indicate she was listening. Without moving from his position, Joshua turned his intense blue gaze on her for an instant, just long enough to catch her eyes. She couldn't believe he was standing so close to her… and he was hurt! What was going on here? He then looked forward again and nodded slightly. Following his lead, the sister looked ahead and froze, just in time to catch the last of Azmaria's cry.

"ROSETTE! You have to look, its Chrno!"

Reality suddenly snapped back into place.

Chrno was standing some 50 yards away from them in his true form, recently recovered horns sprouting from the sides of his head and caked in gore up to his elbows. He was facing away from them but looking back over his shoulder, and the light was casting an interesting shadow across his handsome face. The slight breeze tousled his violet hair, letting it flow around and across his features. The stray locks however, could not hide the intensity of his golden stare as it urgently sought the eyes of his contractor.

Rosette's gaze quickly found his, and the nun balked at what she saw. He looked tense, wings pulled tightly against his back, and tail twitching as if to slice apart the ever-present breeze that played across Eden. His face bore a sort of resigned frown, and his beautiful amber eyes were brewing with a mixture of relief, loving tenderness, and a gut-wrenching sadness that somehow wormed its way into the sister's stomach. Thankfully though, the worry that had obviously been playing across his face as well quickly cleared up as their eyes locked.

Rosette couldn't figure out why he seemed so melancholy, and why she was beginning to feel so distressed by the entire situation. She felt tears start to build up in her eyes, but would not allow them to spill over until she knew what was going on.

Their gazes remained locked for what seemed like hours, but were probably only a few minutes. During this time several wordless conversations passed between them. Rosette was shocked at the raw purity of the emotions swirling in her demon's eyes, and she felt compelled to return them with her own. And so they sat, indirectly communicating things that they had never allowed themselves to say out loud, and Rosette felt a cold hand start a stranglehold on her heart.

For some reason, this felt an awful lot like a goodbye.

After a few minutes, Chrno closed his eyes, and sighed deeply, allowing his shoulders to slump slightly and his wings to fall away from his back. Rosette felt an irrational sort of dread at this action, and found with surprise that she had to gasp hard to suppress the sobs that had been building in her chest for who knew how long.

With a sudden burst of energy she desperately called out her demon's name. He looked up at her one more time with unreadable eyes, savoring the appearance of her face, and allowing his golden gaze to drift over Azamria and Joshua as well. He finally looked back at Rosette lovingly, and gave her a small sad smile before tearing his eyes away and turning to facing front.

It was at this point that Rosette noticed with horror why he had remained where he was, not running back to sweep her into an embrace and tell her that it was over, that the whole bloody ordeal was finished. Standing in front of her Chrno was a fully regenerated Pandemonium, his mother and the demon he and the other Sinners had been trying to destroy. It was actually pretty miraculous that Rosette hadn't noticed the gargantuan demon before, but she had just been thrilled to find everyone still alive, and this particular nun had never been known for her powers of observation anyway.

Rosette watched dumbly as Chrno looked upward at his mother. At a slight nod from the large demon, he let his head fall to his chest, and held his arms out from his sides, in a sort of sagging T shape. Pandemonium regarded her offspring for a moment, obviously communicating with him through their horns. She let a few more dramatic instants pass, and then reared back with one of her huge talons and fiercely drove it through his body. Blood spurted, an impossible amount it seemed, and Chrno quickly dissolved into a handful of ash.

Rosette felt everything freeze. She tried to scream, to call for her demon, but nothing came out. She could only stare with her mouth open and eyes wide as the ash was swirled away lightly by the wind, and then the huge monstrosity that was Pandemonium disappeared.

It was at this point that the tears she had been so desperately holding back broke through the dam and began cascading down her face in torrents, her whole body began to shake, and her poorly suppressed sobs threatened to rip her in half.

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Rosette Christopher sat up quickly in bed, gasping. She pressed her left hand to her forehead and screwed her eyes shut, desperately trying to stave off the rivers of tears that always accompanied this dream. As usual, this tactic did not work for long, and she pulled her knees up to her chest so she could rest her brow against them. Wrapping her arms around her slender middle, she grabbed the fabric of her simple white nightgown and started twisting it viscously between her fingers.

It had been about a month since this dream had last visited her, which was much less frequently than it used to. Still, the intensity of emotion that always resulted from reliving that horrid experience had not been dulled by the years since its occurrence.

Huge crocodile tears began to slip from her eyes, and she bit down hard on the sides of her cheeks, attempting to choke the whimpering or outright sobbing noises that she knew would emerge from her throat.

Just like her other strategies, this one failed and soon she was staining her clothes and the light green comforter with her salty tears, whining quietly to herself as her fingers' assault on her nightgown grew to the point where she was pinching and twisting her own skin through the cloth. She didn't mind though, sometimes the pain actually helped distract her from the gaping holes in both her heart and soul.

The events of this nightmare had happened four years ago. This was a grand total of eight years since her and Joshua had accidentally broken into a fifty-year-old tomb; only to find the demon who would eventually steal her soul away and become her best friend and partner.

_If he had lived, he would have become much more than just my friend… _she thought bitterly to herself. Unfortunately, this train of thought always intensified her sorrow tenfold, and she had to flip over and cry into her pillow to ensure that none of the noise passed out of her room.

Over the years Rosette had developed a pathological fear of allowing anyone to see her cry. At first, right after he died, she didn't care who saw her grieve, and everyone understood. But as the months passed, people began to tell her that she needed to move on with her life, that she should somehow forget the man that she had shared her soul with for four years and find someone else.

At first, Rosette had raged against these people, how could they understand what she was going through? But more and more of her friends began to give her worried looks, and she knew that whenever she left the room they would start up hushed conversations about her health. The breaking point came when Joshua and Azmaria, the two people she was closest with, had sat her down and told her that Chrno definitely would not have wanted her to be miserable because of him, and that everyone missed the old happy, crazy Rosette Christopher.

She had finally agreed that she would move on, and so began to hide her sorrow. She had actually gotten fairly good at it, to the point where she had everyone besides Azmaria, Joshua, and Father Remington fooled into thinking that the old Rosette was back in town. But to those that knew her closely, it was obvious that this girl was still not quite herself. It was mostly apparent in her beautiful blue eyes, and in her smile; both of which always contained a whisper of sadness.

True, Rosette had plenty of happiness in her life. Her dear brother Joshua was back, and his experiences with Aion and the Sinners had not changed him too much, that is, as long as he was not forced to talk about them. She was also gainfully employed at Seventh Bell Orphanage, caring for the children that had stayed young in the time freeze while she had aged so much. She still kept in touch with her friends at the convent, but did not visit much due to the new head of the Order, Father Draum. It was this intolerant man that had caused her to leave in the first place, and so she had absolutely no desire to see him if it was at all possible.

Yes, during the day Rosette smiled, laughed, got mad, and ate (a lot) just like she always did. But at night when she was alone in her room, terrible memories and dreams plagued her, and though they had decreased in intensity and frequency over the years, they were still as terrible as the first time she experienced them. In fact, it was nights like tonight that really differentiated the old and the new Rosette Christopher. There had to be something to fill the hole inside her that Chrno had left, and she decided that if sadness could fill that chasm, then so be it.

The girl sniffled pathetically, running the back of her hand under her nose, and tucking her legs tighter against her body.

_You wouldn't want me to be miserable… then why did you leave me? _She thought, allowing herself to plunge deeper into the pit of despair that had become so familiar to her since her love had left.

Her love, it was a realization she had come to slowly a few months after it was already too late. When it finally occurred to her that she had loved him for years and never actually realized or acted on it, it was like a sledgehammer to the chest, and had only made her sorrow worse.

She supposed it should have been obvious after everything that had passed between them the day he died. Earlier that same day she had died too, her soul finally consumed to fuel his transformation. She remembered vaguely being encased in Chrno's arms as she quietly crossed over into some strange otherly place. The events of that passage though, as well as her time away from Earth were completely lost to her. All that she could really recall was her abrupt sputtering back into the realm of the living. She had never attempted to explain how or why she had been able to come back, all that really mattered was that when she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was Chrno.

His face was stained with tears, but he was smiling. She noticed that he looked a bit tired and that miraculously the horns she had torn off of Joshua's head had found their way back onto his before he had enveloped her in a tight embrace. She could think of nothing to do except hug him back, and when they finally pulled apart he had leaned down and kissed her sweetly. No words passed between them, but Rosette was sure that the warm rush that built in her chest had risen in his too. After the kiss, he had frozen her, presumably for protection, before heading off for the final battle with Aion. The point at which he had unfrozen her was always where her nightmares began.

As the tears rolled down her cheeks and became absorbed into her nightgown, Rosette wished fervently that she could recall what was said as she lay dying, cradled in his arms with her head resting lightly against his chest. These were the last actual spoken words that had passed between them, and it cut her like a knife that she couldn't remember what they were. Her weeping paused briefly as she wracked her brain for any details, but all she could remember was the sight of his face contorted in an expression of pure and utter grief. Realizing her failure yet again to recall this vital detail of her life, perhaps one of the most important memories she ever had, sent her falling abysmally back down into her misery. Her chest began to heave again, and soon the sobbing reappeared to wrack her entire frame with spasms so great she wished that they would tear her apart, let her die so that she might see her Chrno again.

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Ok, done with that. Hooray for angst! I'm sorry if Ms. Christopher is a bit OOC here, but I'm not gonna portray her as a weepy little girl throughout the entire story. Think of this as a really bad night for her. I promise in the next chapter there will be a smidgeon of funny Rosette.

The first segment is supposed to be a little vague, it's a dream sequence. As for the rest of the thing, if stuff is unclear I appologize. More explanation on the history will be given in upcoming chapters... other than that, there really isn't a good excuse for bad writing, is there?

So, in the next chapter a certain someone is gonna show up again. I'll give you three guesses as to who.

Please review, and see you next chapter!

SR


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again!

Alright, I'm borrowing a few more characters in this chapter, first off there's Mr. Gene. Obviously, the husband of Mrs. Gene, the lady in charge of Seventh Bell. Unfortunately, I don't have the manga with me right now so I can't remember if she said she was a widow or not... but I'm not changing it if she did. My philosophy on the subject is that she couldn't take care of all those kids on her own, and so she probably had a husband, we just never saw him. The other one I'm using is Seira, whowas one of the older girls at the orphanage.

M'k, let's get started!

Disclaimer: Scarred Rose does not own Chrno Crusade.

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Light filtered in through the window directly above Rosette's bed. It was already mid-morning and she was, not surprisingly, still asleep. Somehow, she had managed to throw her comforter off of the bed during the night, and in an attempt to warm herself had pulled her pillow over her body and curled up under it.

Suddenly, a small figure burst through her door and pattered over to the bed. With a poorly suppressed giggle the small girl climbed up onto Rosette's bed, and after taking in a huge breath of air she leaped on top of the pillow covering her.

"IS TIMA WAKE UP MZ WOSETTTE!" The tiny girl yelled with enthusiasm, and fell into a heap of giggles as Rosette sat up disgruntledly.

Molly had become Rosette's official alarm clock, as she was the cutest and smallest child currently at Seventh Bell, and probably the only person Rosette would refrain from clobbering after an awakening like that.

"Molly, you're getting too big to do that." Rosette mumbled with a yawn. She slowly opened her eyes to look at the pigtailed girl sitting beside her, and with a smirk, fell back onto the bed.

"In fact, I think this time you crushed me!" She started to do some really bad fake choking noises and curled up into a ball. The little girl's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"Oh no! No Mz Wosette, I didn mean it!" Her little face scrunched up into an adorable pout "Don get all smushed! I'm not THAT big yet!"

With that, Molly started trying to straighten Rosette out, first pulling on her legs then on her arms. The bigger girl just smiled through her fake pain and let Molly tug her body straight again.

"Are you better yet?" The tiny girl asked hopefully, looking down into Rosette's face with a very mature expression of worry that made Rosette burst out into laughter.

"Almost Molly," Fake wheeze, "But I think to get completely better I need a giganormous hug, and a promise that you won't try to flatten me again!"

The girl's face brightened, "OK Mz Wosette!" And Rosette received, indeed, a giganormous hug from the little pink-clad girl.

When Rosette finally managed to pry off Molly's limpet-like grasp, the breakfast bell had already sounded.

"Alright Ms. Molly, time to get out so I can get changed." Rosette said with a smile.

"I smell pamcakes!" Chirped the little girl with a giggle and almost ran out of the room, but stopped at the door and turned to face Rosette again slowly. "Mz Wosette, why are your eyes all puffy again?"

Rosette glanced up at her mirror and saw that they were red-rimmed and a little swollen. _Great. No revise that, WONDERFUL._ she thought to herself, and gently rubbed them with her fingertips for a moment.

"They're just a little swollen because the sandman put too much sand in them last night and they got irritated, that's all sweetie." She said with a small smile.

"Mz Wosette," Molly replied with a very serious look on her face. "Do you know the sandman isn weal?"

Rosette had to snicker at the little girl. She really was adorable.

"Molly, did Billy tell you that?"

The small girl nodded her head quietly, and Rosette motioned her to come close. Bending down onto her knees so that she and the girl were at the same height, she glanced left and right conspiratorially and then leaned forward to whisper in the girl's ear "Billy's lying!"

With a squeal and a huge grin Molly spun on her heel and ran out of the room.

"Come on, Mz Wosette, or you're gunna miss brekkast!"

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Mr. Gene and Billy had risen early that morning and shared a big pot of black coffee before leaving Seventh Bell. They had gone under the pretext that they needed to scout around in the woods for a copperhead that Billy claimed to have seen yesterday. While all the children of the orphanage were taught to stay away from snakes, they figured that it was better to be safe than sorry.

In reality, the snake was just a ploy so that they could head to their actual destination: a beautiful field of wildflowers that was about an hour's walk from the orphanage. Mrs. Gene's birthday was coming up, and as they had little money to spare, her husband had decided that he was going to bring her home more freshly picked and beautiful flowers than she knew what to do with. (AN: Awwwwww  )

He had brought Billy along to help carry the flowers back, but also to share the field's secret location with the boy, who was now fourteen, and according to Mr. Gene would soon be needing flowers for all the pretty ladies he'd meet. The pair had made it about three-quarters of the way there before coming out into a clearing in the woods.

"Well m'boy, ready to take a break?" The old man asked with a kind smile.

"Sure." The boy replied, taking a seat on a fallen log and pulling the pack off of his back.

"Do you want a sandwich, Mr. ?" He asked, digging around in the bag for the pair of cheese sandwiches he had taken that morning.

"No thanks, Billy. You can have the sandwiches, but I will take one of those oranges."

The teenager passed the requested fruit to the old man, and promptly tore into one of the sandwiches. Mr. Gene smiled and watched the boy for a few moments, wondering where he put all the food he ate before beginning the laborious process of tearing the rind off of his orange. _Damn arthritis_, he thought as his stiff fingers rebelled against the dexterous actions he asked them to perform. After a few minutes of fiddling with the stubborn fruit he decided to take a break, and leaned back against a tree to survey the clearing that he had discovered thirty years ago.

His eyes traveled over the familiar trees, both standing and fallen, making a circular path around the clearing. He had nearly scrutinized the entire area when his eyes came across something he didn't recognize. It was a dark shape at the other end of the open space that he couldn't quite make out. Frowning, he pulled his glasses out of his breast pocket, placed them on his nose, and looked again. The dark blob slowly resolved itself into a hunched figure. It was a man.

"Hello there!" Mr. Gene called out, a bit unnerved that the man hadn't bothered to greet Billy and himself when they had entered the clearing. This sudden yell startled Billy off of his sandwich, and he looked up at the old man's face to see what had prompted the outburst. Following the direction of his gaze, Billy looked toward the dark figure and gave out a small eep! of surprise that was somewhat muffled by the big hunk of cheese in his mouth.

The man didn't move.

Billy kept gazing intently at the strange person as Mr. Gene greeted him again.

"Hello, sir! Are you lost!"

Again, no response.

Billy swallowed the lump of food in his mouth and slowly turned his head back to Mr. Gene with an inquisitive and slightly nervous look.

"Is he dead?"

"Oh no Billy, I don't think so." The older man answered reassuringly, but his face was worried and a bit grim.

Rising from his resting place against the tree, Mr. Gene quickly strode across the clearing toward the motionless figure. Billy leaped off of his log and followed a step behind him. They stopped about 10 feet away from the man and examined him for a moment. He was completely clad in black and sitting with his back against one of the fallen logs, one leg stretched out, and one bent. He was hunched over, head resting on his knee with both eyes closed, and both arms tightly encircling his middle. The man was shivering violently, teeth clattering together loudly, and long purple hair spilling over his shoulder. Beneath him was a small pool of blood.

"Sir?" The old man tried one more time, "Can you hear me?"

It appeared that the man couldn't hear him. Mr. Gene turned to Billy with a very serious expression on his face. The boy's eyes were wide and staring at the blood soaking into the dirt.

"Billy." The old man said firmly, snapping the boy back to attention. "I need you to run back to the house and get Rosette and Seira. Tell them to bring some buckets and bandages… and a blanket. Do you understand?"

Billy nodded dumbly and gave a weak "Mmmm" as a response.

"Do you remember the way back here?" The old man asked patiently.

"Erm, yes sir." Billy answered, slowly straightening to meet his eyes.

"Alright. Go now, do you understand? Run if you can and bring the girls and the supplies back quickly." With that, Mr. Gene stood and gave Billy a pat on the shoulder. The boy gave one more backwards glance at the strange man on the ground before racing out of the clearing towards home.

As soon as the boy was gone, Mr. Gene swallowed the nervous lump that had formed in his throat and closed the remaining distance between himself and the man on the ground.

"Now son," He spoke slowly and kindly, reaching out a hand to place it on the man's shoulder, "Everything is going to be just fine. Where are you hurt?"

The injured man's reaction was instantaneous as soon as Mr. Gene's hand hit his shoulder. The moment after the contact had been made, the old man found himself on his back on the ground, with the violet-haired man about twenty feet away. Mr. Gene sat up, realizing that he was unhurt, and incredulously looked at the other man, who had just moved impossibly fast and was now growling dangerously at him from his new position.

He was crouched low on the balls of his feet, one hand resting on the ground to support him, and the other still curled around his abdomen. It was now apparent that that was the source of the bleeding, as some fresh streams of blood began to drip down his arm. His eyes had opened, but it was obvious that they weren't focusing properly because he was looking all over the clearing, but not directly at the man who had just touched him. With a twinge of fear, Mr. Gene noticed that the man's eyes were the same color as the blood seeping from his stomach.

He suddenly regretted sending Billy away so quickly. What _was_ this man anyway? Slowly pushing himself to his feet, he cleared his throat. This time, the man's head snapped in the direction of the noise, and he bristled slightly, blinking several times to try to force his eyes to work.

"Um, hello?" Mr. Gene tried, "You looked like you were in trouble, and I was just trying to help you." He tried to put a reassuring smile on his face, and held both hands up with his palms facing toward the man. "See? I'm just an old man, I couldn't hurt you if I tried."

The other man looked directly at Mr. Gene and blinked slowly. He raised a hand and rubbed it across his eyes quickly before looking again. A confused expression passed over his face and he muttered something that Mr. Gene didn't quite catch, but sounded remarkably like "…Human?"

After a moment, the man lowered himself painfully to the ground, sitting cross-legged and curling his other arm around his middle to join the first one. He remained hunched over, but was now looking at Mr. Gene, all the malice gone from his face.

"H-hello." He forced out in a raspy-sounding voice, teeth still chattering uncontrollably. "I'm s-sorry if I s-scared you." He took in a shaky breath and ducked his head slightly. "This m-may s-sound like a w-weird q-question," He paused to hack up a bit of blood, each cough looking like it was going to rip his form apart. After the spell had passed he gasped a few times and then continued. "B-b-but do y-you know a R-rosette C-christopher?"

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"Mmmmmmmmm! Pass the syrup, please!" Crowed Rosette, head never rising more than a few inches above her plate. The pancakes were delicious, and she was currently on her second helping. With an amused look on his face, one of the children handed her the syrup and quickly jerked his hand back as she grabbed it and began laying it on thick.

"Hehe, go Rosette go!"

Watching the former nun eat was like television for the children of Seventh Bell. Sometimes it made them laugh, sometimes it made them cry, and sometimes it grossed them out. Whatever time of day or night Rosette was hungry, watching her eat was always entertaining.

She had already demolished her first plate of pancakes, a banana, and two glasses of orange juice, only choking once. The orphans watched in awe as the second stack of cakes began rapidly vanishing under her relentless fork, wondering when in the process of chewing and swallowing she took time to breathe.

Suddenly, the front door flew open and Billy stumbled in gasping.

"Rosette, gasp Mr.Geneneedsyouand wheeze Seiratogetsome gasp bucketsandbandagesandablanketquick!" Rosette casually finished swallowing her last bite of pancakes, among the giggling and light applause of some of the children, before turning to look at the exhausted boy.

"And why, exactly, does he need them right now? Can't we finish breakfast first?" Some of the children fell comically to the ground and began whispering to each other "You mean she's not done yet?"

"Because," Said Billy, taking in a few deep breaths and slowing down his speech slightly, "We found a man out in the woods. He's hurt real bad."

Rosette sighed in exasperation, sending one last loving glance at the extra pancakes sitting in the middle of the table. "Alright, you go get Seira, I think she's upstairs cleaning the bathroom. I'll get the stuff together."

Billy nodded and quickly ran up the stairs, while Rosette grudgingly pulled her boots on. "Really, you couldn't wait another ten minutes," She grumbled, finally standing and grabbing a spare blanket out of a large chest by the girls' room. Pulling open a cabinet door right above this chest, she grabbed some bandages, gauze, and ointments and piled them into a small bag that she threw over her shoulder. Seira and Billy came racing down the stairs, both with concerned expressions on their faces, and the three of them headed out the door.

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Mr. Gene had taken a seat on the ground and was waiting anxiously for the return of Billy, Rosette, and Seira. Chewing on the side of his cheek, he mulled over the brief conversation that had passed between himself and the strange man he had found, who was currently seated a few yards away.

Start Flashback

"Do y-you know a R-rosette C-christopher?"

The old man had simply blinked for a few moments at this question. "Um, yes. She works for me." He answered hesitantly. This guy gave him the creeps and he wondered how he knew Rosette.

"W-where is she?" He asked, suddenly taking a keen interest in the old man standing some distance away from him.

"She's on her way here." Mr. Gene had answered reluctantly, then decided to change the subject. "Can I look at your wound? I need to figure out what it is before the bandages get here."

The man had smiled and gave a short but unnerving laugh. "It'll h-heal just f-fine on its own, thanks." He locked eyes with the older man for a spine-tingling instant. "S-she's coming h-here? Rosette?"

Mr. Gene had simply nodded, and the other man closed his eyes and smiled, letting his head droop back down to rest on his chest. After a time, Mr. Gene had sat down as well, keeping a constant eye on his strange discovery.

End Flashback

He hoped that it hadn't been a mistake to bring Rosette here, glancing worriedly at the man. Even if he wasn't so damned fast he could probably easily hurt them all if he wanted to. He looked to be in his twenties and was a big guy, probably a little over six feet tall, though it was hard to tell when he was on the ground. The only skin that the old man could see besides his face was his arms, and they were well muscled. Just then, another thought occurred to him: _If he's so scary, what could have hurt him like that?_ The old man pursed his lips and stared ahead at the path he knew Billy and the others would come down. _Please let this turn out well…_

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"Billy, slow down!" Seira called as she almost tripped on yet another tree root.

Rosette sighed, still a bit annoyed about the breakfast thing. "Stop being such a girl, Seira!" She yelled back at the younger woman, "According to captain no-food here, someone's hurt and we have to help him!"

She couldn't quite figure out why she was so tense this morning. Normally being interrupted when she was eating didn't piss her off this much. It was then that she realized that the last person she had found wounded while exploring in the woods was…

_Stop it!_ She mentally berated herself, _He's dead. And he's not coming back._

Rosette grimly tightened her grip on the wooden bucket she was carrying and quickened her pace to catch up with Billy, who was racing along ahead of the two girls.

"Almost there!" He called back to them.

_Great. Let's get this over with._ Thought Rosette as they approached the clearing.

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Mr. Gene was snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed the man lift his head out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look at him, he saw that the stranger had straightened his back, painfully, and appeared to be sniffing the air. After a few moments, a wan smile spread across his face as he watched the entrance to the clearing intently.

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Billy ran through an opening in the trees out into a clearing bathed in sunlight, and went directly to Mr. Gene's side.

"I brought them!" He gasped out, "How is he…" The boy trailed off as he looked towards the spot the man had been in and found he wasn't there. Mr. Gene pointed, and Billy turned his head to look at the stranger's new resting place.

The man didn't appear to have noticed Billy's arrival, eyes instead still locked on the entrance to the clearing. As soon as Billy managed a questioning "Huh?" both girls burst through the trees and onto the scene. They stood for a few moments blinking fiercely as their eyes adjusted to the bright light, then Seira spotted the injured man. She reached out and tapped her blonde friend on the shoulder,

"Rosette, over there." And pointed.

Rosette looked, and froze. The bucket in her hand dropped to the ground, and all the air went out of her lungs in a huge whoosh. Seira's expression immediately turned to one of concern.

"Rosette, are you ok? Do you know him or something?"

But before the other girl could finish her sentence, Rosette had taken off across the clearing, running as fast as she possibly could. The breath caught in her throat as she ran, but she quickly reached her destination, stopping a few steps shy of running him over.

Chest heaving and eyes wide, she stared down at the man with an expression of disbelief. He, in turn, looked up at her with a small smile, then reached out towards her with his left arm. She fell into his lap, straddling his legs and hugging the living daylights out of him, pressing as much of her body as possible against his.

"Chrno… Chrno… you're dead." She spoke softly into his shoulder, squeezing a little tighter as the sudden urge to cry hit her like a sledgehammer.

Chrno winced and hissed a little as her grip tightened around his injured torso, but didn't let the pain stop him from hugging her tightly back.

"Found you." He cooed quietly, and nestled his face into the crook of her neck.

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Yay! He's back!

Find out how and why he's backin the upcomingchapters... and stay tuned for obsene amounts of fluffiness.

Please review, and have a happy day!

SR


	3. Chapter 3

Hi all!

Another chapter for your reading enjoyment... plus a smidgeon of fluff at the end.

(Hugs to reviewers!)

Disclaimer: Scarred Rose doesn't own Chrno Crusade.

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Mr. Gene, Billy, and Seira all watched in awe as Rosette cried into the strange man's shoulder. They were wrapped as much around each other as possible, and hadn't moved for several minutes. Mr. Gene was just about to say something when Rosette pulled herself out of the embrace and fiercely wiped a forearm across her eyes. She sniffled a bit and then called out to the others,

"Bring the stuff, he's hurt!" This brought the others out of their stupor, and they rushed to grab up the supplies brought from home. They then wordlessly made their way over to the pair, watching as Rosette went to lift up the man's shirt.

"Don't." He said softly, covering both of her hands with his left one. "It's not worth the trouble. It'll be fine by tomorrow."

Mr. Gene noticed that the man's teeth had stopped chattering and that his formerly crackling voice had smoothed out and lowered in tone. It was silky and mellow, and sounded a bit relaxing in the somewhat confused situation. However, he was still shivering like a leaf in the rain.

"Don't tell me what to do, Chrno." Rosette answered quietly but firmly. "If it's anything like your arm we'll need to wrap it before you try to walk."

This comment caused the other people present to glance at the man's right arm, and they then noticed that it was broken in several places. This probably explained why it had never left his middle. It was now curled loosely around Rosette's hips and the bone was actually sticking out in a few places. Seira turned away from the sight, closed her eyes, and took a few slow, deep breaths.

"And besides," Rosette continued, letting a small smirk form on her face, "I don't want you bleeding on me any more than you already have."

Chrno chuckled a bit at this, an action he immediately regretted as it sent him into another coughing spurt. When the spasms in his midsection had stopped, he straightened a bit with a pained expression on his face.

"Ok. But it's not pretty."

With that, Rosette pulled his shirt up and helped him get it off over his injured arm. This revealed his nicely sculpted torso, which was currently sporting a string of huge, purple-black bruises from his collar bone down to the bottom of his rib cage. Towards the bottom of the abused area three sharp, white points were poking out through his skin, blood slowly oozing from the wounds. _Ribs_, Rosette realized. It looked like the entire right half of his body from the waist up had been put through a meat grinder or something.

"You weren't kidding." The blond haired girl said, reaching out to gently run her hand over the angry-looking bruises. Chrno twitched slightly at her touch, but didn't give any other indication of pain. "How did this happen?"

"That's a story for another day." He responded quietly, biting into his bottom lip. "If you're going to bandage this let's get it over with."

Mr. Gene finally came back to his senses, and interjected "Are they all broken, son?"

Chrno looked up at the man, a surprisingly calm smile on his face. "Yes. But only a few went through the skin, so it's not nearly as bad as it could have been."

The old man shook his head in disbelief. "As it is, I'd say that wound is bad enough." He glanced at Billy and Seira, both of whom had turned away and were either looking up at the sky breathing deeply, or staring intensely at the ground and chewing on a finger.

"I've had worse." The violet-haired man muttered quietly, but the old man didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, Seira!" Rosette called, realizing her friend's discomfort, "Can you take one of the buckets and get me some water? We passed a stream a few minutes before we got here, and I need to clean this out."

The other girl slowly nodded her head, and strode off to grab a bucket, never pausing to look back at the scene behind her.

"And Billy," Mr. Gene said, patting the boy on the back, "How about if you run home and set up one of the spare rooms. Make sure you let Mrs. Gene know that we're coming and we have a guest."

Billy turned to look at everyone again, but the sight of Chrno's injury was enough to make him high-tail it out of the clearing toward home. Mr. Gene sighed heavily, and began rolling his sleeves up.

"The soap's in the other bucket." Rosette told him. "Now lay down." She said, directing her attention back at Chrno.

The demon painfully obeyed, ending up on his back with his arms to his sides. Rosette finally climbed out of his lap and came to sit next to him on his left side, between his arm and his body. She was looking at the receding form of Mr. Gene as he went to retrieve the bar of soap from the other bucket. Chrno's crimson gaze never left her face, and after a few seconds she looked down at him with an expression of loving concern.

"Really Chrno, how are you here? And why are you hurt?" She asked pleadingly, with the threat of more tears on the horizon.

Chrno looked down for a moment, frowning, then gazed up at her again. "Is this real?" He asked, completely ignoring the questions. "Because if I'm dreaming, and if I wake up in a few minutes and you're not here, I-" He paused to take a deep, steadying breath, "I'm going to be very upset." He finished with half-lidded eyes and a forlorn look on his face.

Rosette smiled tenderly and grabbed his good hand, interlacing their fingers. "I don't know. I guess I'm in the same boat as you." She gave his hand a little squeeze, "But this feels pretty real to me."

They just sat and gazed at each other for a few minutes, Chrno's thumb gently moving across the back of Rosette's hand until Mr. Gene loudly cleared his throat. He had somehow come back from the other side of the clearing, soap in hand, without either of them noticing. Rosette immediately turned pink and dropped Chrno's hand, while he just sighed and turned to look up at the old man.

"Seira should be back any second now with the water." He said, a bit uncomfortably. "We're gonna have to clean that up and then try to get the bones back on the inside where they belong before we wrap it up. And then it's about a 45 minute hike back home." He paused and regarded the man lying prone on the ground. "Do you think you can make a trip like that today?"

"Yeah." Chrno answered quietly. "Nothing wrong with the bottom half."

"Alright," Mr. Gene responded, looking toward the opening in the clearing as Seira came through it lugging a big bucketful of water. "Let's get started, then."

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It had taken them about an hour and a half to bring Chrno from the clearing back to Seventh Bell, and he was now resting in one of the downstairs rooms. They had come very close to having to carry Seira back as well, as she'd almost fainted after watching the washing and bandaging of Chrno's wound. More specifically, the part when his ribs were popped back into place, which he'd insisted on doing himself. To be truthful, the sight of that had made Rosette a bit queasy too, and she'd berated herself for being out of the demon fighting circuit for too long. After all, she used to get nasty wounds all the time, and never batted an eye at them.

She sighed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ears before immersing her hands in the soapy water again. She'd wanted to stay with him when they got him settled in the room, but he had insisted that she leave. At first, it hurt her that he didn't want her to be with him while he was healing, but he'd told her in his usual sensible tone that there wasn't anything she could do to help him. And besides, there were chores around the orphanage that she was responsible for. This was definitely true, she thought as she scrubbed hard at the dried egg on one of the plates. But still, he'd been gone for so long, and they hadn't really said anything to each other… didn't he care?

A cold finger was doing laps up and down her spine as she contemplated what his presence here meant for her. She loved him. With all her heart and soul. But she knew that already, had figured it out a long time ago. The question that now plagued her was, did he love her back?

It had seemed like he did, from what she could remember of their last day together, but was she interpreting it wrong? He kissed her, but it might have just been out of relief to see his friend alive again. And when they were staring at each other she thought she knew what he was trying to tell her, but could she have been mistaken? Was he just saying goodbye to a good friend? _What the hell did he think of her!_

Rosette gritted her teeth and scrubbed so hard she didn't hear the approach of Mr. Gene behind her.

"Rosette," He said, nearly making her jump out of her skin. "Who is that man we found today, and how do you know him?"

She spun around quickly, almost knocking some of the dishes off the counter.

"Oh, Mr. Gene, it's just you." She said with a sigh and a lopsided grin.

"Get your head out of the clouds girl, you don't want to knock any angels out of them, do you?" The old man answered kindly. He loved this phrase, and used it whenever he found someone daydreaming.

Rosette knew those words and laughed quietly, reassured by the familiarity.

"He was my partner back at the Magdalan Order." She said, a small nostalgic smile spreading across her face. "We all thought he died, but it looks like we were wrong." She paused and thought about that for a moment. "Thankfully."

"Ah," Mr. Gene answered, a bit of relief spreading over his face. He'd heard stories about this person, and from what he could gather it seemed he was a good man. "And what's his name again, dear?"

"Adam." Rosette responded, closing her eyes for a second, obviously remembering something nice as a warm smile played across her features. She looked back up at Mr. Gene as he voiced his next question:

"Now, I thought I heard you call him something else out there in the woods, started with a C?"

"Oh, no. That's just a nickname." Rosette answered with a smile, which Mr. Gene returned.

"I see. Well, thank you for answering my questions Rosette, I should get back to work. And so should you, we're going to need clean dishes if any of us are going to eat tonight."

He knew now that he could forget his previous misgivings about this man. If he was a friend of Rosette's, he would be welcome at the orphanage. Feeling better about having helped out this stranger, the old man waved at Rosette and exited the kitchen, leaving the girl to her thoughts.

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It was past midnight, and Rosette couldn't sleep. It wasn't that she wasn't tired, everyone knew she loved her beauty rest, just that she couldn't get her brain to shut down. For the tenth time in the last hour she tried fluffing her pillow and flipped over to sleep on her other side. No dice.

She had tried to visit Chrno earlier that afternoon, but when she opened his door she had found him asleep. Now, she couldn't get the demon out of her mind, and she finally decided that she wasn't going to get any sleep that night if she didn't go talk to him. Sighing, she threw the covers off of her body and quietly left. She crept down the stairs, making sure to avoid the fifth step from the top, as it always squeaked, and gingerly tiptoed over to his room.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her fist to knock on the door when a voice called out from the inside.

"Come in." Even slightly muffled by the door, Rosette recognized Chrno's adult voice and a little shiver ran up her spine. Shooing the discomfort away, she quietly pushed open the door and slipped into the room, soundlessly closing it behind her.

"Couldn't sleep?" A familiar voice greeted her as she turned to make sure the door was completely closed.

She twisted back around and smiled as the familiar form of her demon came into view. He was sitting on the bed, back up against the headboard and legs stretched out in front of him. The moonlight sifting through the open window was bathing him in a silvery glow, accentuating each and every muscle on his bare chest and arms. His crimson eyes were shining in the dark, a sight that would probably send any normal person running for cover, but to Rosette just added to his appeal.

"No," She lied, walking over to the bed. "Just came to check on you. Are you any better?"

"I'm fine." He smiled.

_God he looks handsome when he does that_, Rosette thought.

"I told you I'd heal up by tomorrow." He said, gazing at her as she came to a stop next to him.

The moonlight now washed over her as well, glinting off her golden hair and making her eyes sparkle like diamonds. It shimmered through her thin nightgown, illuminating some of the skin below and creating dramatic shadows in other places. It wasn't see-through, just giving off several not-so-subtle suggestions about the body under it.

"You're not lying to me and saying you're fine when you're really not are you?" Rosette asked, standing next to the bed and looking down at him, not seeming to notice the fact that he was staring at her. "Cuz if you are…" She raised a fist and shook it at him menacingly.

"I'm not, mother." He said chidingly, snapping his eyes back up to hers and hoping he wasn't drooling. "It would be nice if you could help me get these bandages off though, they're itchy."

Rosette nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed, starting by unraveling the long strips they had wrapped his torso in.

"Sit up, you goof." She giggled, as she came to a spot where she needed to pass the bandage behind his back.

"Told you I needed help with this." He said with a small grin, sitting up and letting her pass the big ball of gauze she was winding up behind his back. She had to lean in close to do this, and the demon felt her cheek brush lightly against his skin before she pulled back and started working on the front again. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly at the contact, but he didn't smile for fear of incurring one of his partner's famous rages. "Do you guys wrap all of your Christmas presents this way? Because if you do, I give up in advance."

Rosette smiled, and carefully pulled the last of the bandages off his stomach. The last few layers had been coated in blood, but there wasn't even a mark on his skin to show for the nasty wound he'd had this morning. She lightly traced her fingers over the area in wonderment, and then pressed a bit harder to make sure the bones had set. Looking up, she caught Chrno's eyes and blushed a bit.

"Let's get your arm too, while we're in an unwrapping mood." She said quietly, tossing the big gauze ball into a trash can in the corner and then sitting up to start unraveling the bandage at Chrno's shoulder.

She looked up at the demon about halfway through unwrapping his arm and caught him looking at her again. The former nun stuck her tongue out at him and gave his arm a little squeeze, checking his face for any indication of pain. He simply rolled his eyes at her and flashed that brilliant smile again, almost making her blush a second time. She quickly looked down, disguising her action by telling him "Just checking."

"I know better than to lie to you, Rosette." He responded with a chuckle, watching as she tugged the rest if the bandages free from his arm, and tossed them into the trash to join the first batch.

With this task complete, a silence grew between the two seated on the bed. It was a comfortable one for Chrno, but Rosette's head had begun to swim with unanswered questions again. Shifting slightly so that her back was facing towards him, she pulled her legs up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees.

She looked silently up at the window, taking in the sight of the field surrounding the orphanage and the forest encircling it bathed in moonlight. From this angle, she was sure Chrno couldn't see her face, and so let a small frown crawl across it as she tried to work up the courage to ask the question that had been bothering her all day. She was about to speak when she felt the demon's weight move behind her, and suddenly she felt his hands on her back. She almost jumped when Chrno's reassuring voice spoke out from behind her,

"Relax."

She did, and his strong hands began to move over her back, rubbing and kneading her tired muscles in a soothing pattern. After a few minutes of this attention, she let out a deep breath and relaxed completely, letting his hands comfort her and send her into a warm, quiet, and safe place.

As the massage continued, she let herself slip back into happy memories, back before the contract. Before she had been introduced to evil and suffering. She remembered a sweet and pure Joshua, and the funny little kid they'd found who insisted he was a demon. She remembered fishing, and picnics, and braiding, playing and listening to stories. She sighed again and reveled in the pastimes of her youth, almost sliding off into sleep.

Soon, she felt the pace of his rubbing motions slow, and she came out of her dreams as he ran his hands up her back one more time, allowing them to come to a stop on her upper arms. The girl smiled contentedly, until she felt him lean forward and plant a warm kiss on the back of her neck.

"You're worried about something." He said quietly, in a soothing velvety voice reserved for times like this. "What's wrong?"

Rosette frowned slightly and raised her hand to brush over the spot he'd just kissed on the back of her neck. Turning her head, she met his gaze and blinked at the concern on his face. Earlier, she'd been trying to come up with some eloquent way of proposing her question, but right now the desire to know far outweighed the need to not lose her cool in front of this person.

She swallowed hard.

"Chrno," She began hesitantly, pausing to look up at his eyes again. "Do you, do you l-love me?" She felt tears start to build in her eyes, but quickly banished them away. She was through crying. Her love was right here, right now, and if he rejected her she'd have to get over it.

He blinked twice, a look of confusion briefly passing over his face. He'd almost been floored by the simplicity of the question. It took him a few precious seconds to realize that he hadn't actually answered yet, and Rosette was watching him expectantly, holding her breath.

"Completely." He answered, staring down into the azure depths of her eyes, and shaking his head slightly. "You do love me too, don't you?"

Rosette smiled wide and sniffled, fighting to hold back tears. "Well of course I do." She whispered, "Why wouldn't I?"

With that, Chrno reached out and gently pulled the girl into his lap, loosely wrapping his arms around her middle and leaning down to press their foreheads together. Rosette slid her arms up around his neck and looked up at him as he closed his burning eyes.

"Rosette, I love you more than this wicked life I have. Don't ever doubt that."

She smiled and slid her hands up his neck to gently grasp his ears.

"I won't."

She then gently pulled him down to meet her lips in the second kiss they'd ever shared.

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The next morning, Rosette was awoken by Molly in the usual manner. With a bit of surprise, she found that she was in her own bed. At some point during the night Chrno must have brought her back up. As soon as she had shooed the little girl out of her room, she flopped back down onto her bed and hugged her blanket to her chest, letting a huge smile and a small blush form on her face.

Nothing had happened, they had just snuggled for what seemed like hours and she vaguely remembered sneaking under the covers with him to cuddle even closer. Still, for a twenty-year-old woman who had never had a real boyfriend before, this was plenty of excitement for one night.

Eventually, she pushed herself upright and left her room, humming a tune and smiling wider than anyone had seen her do in a long time.

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Yay! Fluffy fluff.

Next chapter, lots of stuff will be explained, including the Adam thing for those of you who are confused. Potentially citrus too, haven't thought that far ahead.

Till then, Please Review and have a happy day!

SR


	4. Chapter 4

Hi all!

Whew, another chapter for your enjoyment, and it's really stinkin long. Sorry for the delay, been getting distracted by my boy since new years(give a mouse a cookie, he's gonna want some milk type thing. Except in this case milk and cookies would be terrible, awful euphemisms for other things ;) ) So, we have a wee hint of lime in this one. Not much, but it's there. Also, if the ending is a bit rushed I apologize, havingwritten the last six pages of this thing today I am kind of at a loss to judge it myself. That, and I just want the darn thing finished (chapter, not story) so I can work on other stuff.

Reviewers: You're gonna make my head swell. Thank you (HUGS!)

Disclaimer: SR doesn't own Chrno Crusade...

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Rosette practically skipped down the stairs that morning and immediately went over to Chrno's door. She knocked on it, three quick raps, and hurriedly straightened her hair as she waited for a response. The sound of blankets rumpling slowly reached her ears, and in a few moments the door was pulled open to reveal a very sleepy looking demon. He rubbed a hand across his eyes and yawned, briefly revealing a sharp set of canines, before finally opening his eyes to look at his visitor.

"Good morning." He murmured, a smile playing its way across his lips as he peered down into Rosette's happy face. "Since when do you get up before me?"

"Since when do you sleep til nine?" She asked, giggling as she looked him over, trying not to let her eyes linger too long on his bare chest.

The man frowned a bit and squinted at the light pouring through his window. "It's that late already?"

"You got it sleepy-head." Rosette answered with a grin. God, she couldn't stop giggling. What was she, twelve?

Chrno closed his eyes again and rested his forehead against the doorjamb for a minute, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. This gave Rosette ample time to gawk, so she took the chance and looked her man over.

She felt a weird, unidentifiable tingly sensation that seemed to accompany her uncontrollable giggle fit. If she had to guess, it must have been one of those romantic rushes, like the ones described in some of the cheesy romance novels she'd taken to reading. He was the same Chrno she had known for years; smart, funny, dependable, and loyal to a fault; but now he was drop-dead gorgeous and strong too. Just thinking about it intensified that tickling feeling and brought a small blush to her cheeks. _Get a hold of yourself, girl._

"Ok. I'll be out in a few minutes."

This startled Rosette back to reality, and she quickly searched for some reason to prolong their little encounter.

"Hey, wait!" She cried as he started to close the door, "I was gonna braid your hair for you," a little nostalgic smile crossed her face. "You know, just like old times."

The demon looked down at her, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "That'd be great." He pulled the door open for her, and then closed it behind them as they made their way over to the bed. Chrno sat down on the edge, letting Rosette wiggle in behind him, and took in a deep breath as he felt her fingers start working their way through his long tangled locks.

Oh yeah, this little morning ritual had been one of the things he'd missed the most while he was gone.

Rosette started humming quietly as she felt the demon in front of her relax, a light thrumming noise emerging from his chest. She smiled to herself, gently straightening out all the snarls before starting in with the familiar twisting motions of braiding.

With as much fun as she was having, it took her a few minutes to recognize the small niggling feeling that was starting to poke around in the back of her mind. It seemed like her little brain worm wanted her to remember something, something relatively important, but the thought just wouldn't reveal itself yet. She growled at the imaginary bug in her mind, mentally shooing it away so she could go back to enjoying the company of her best friend and… what? Boyfriend? She didn't think she could call him that yet… after all they'd just gotten back together yesterday. Oop! She was distracting herself from the probably-important thought. _What is it?_ She thought, with a bit of irritation. _What's so urgent that it can't wait til later?_ Almost like a cheeky child that knew a secret, the thought now seemed like it was making a point to avoid her grasp. _Grrrrrr…_ Rosette made another mental snatch for the little bugger, annoyance building as she continued to miss it.

Frustrated, she decided to try another strategy. _Ok, what are things that I need to tell Chrno? It's not like there's anything around here he can't figure out for himself. No one suspects he's a demon or anything, at least I don't think so… so what does Chrno need to know? _

_Hmmm, things I'm supposed to tell Chrno. _

_Chrno… _

_Ch-ro-no… _

_Oh! Chrno, duh!_

"Hey, Chrno?"

"Mmmmm?" The demon responded dreamily, only slightly paying attention.

"Um, this might sound weird, but your name is Adam here, ok?"

After taking a minute to process that statement, the demon opened his eyes and turned slowly to shoot a confused look over his shoulder at her. "Huh?"

"Look, I'll explain later," She said, tying off the bottom of the braid with a familiar yellow ribbon. "Just go with it, please." She caught his eyes and gave him a big, genuine smile.

Chrno, in turn, rolled his eyes at her. "You're weird." He chuckled lightly as her smile quickly turned to an annoyed glance. "And cute when you're mad."

With that, he twisted back and kissed her. It seemed like such a natural motion, and after the initial surprise Rosette leaned back against the wall, letting her hands trail up his chest to rest on his shoulders. After a few moments, she gave him a light push and he obediently slid back, but not too far, opening his eyes to look into her face.

"We better hurry up, or we're gonna miss breakfast." She said with a little smile and a blush on her cheeks.

Chrno kept staring at her for a moment, face still dangerously close when his eyes narrowed and a playful smile crossed his face. "It's not ready yet. I can smell the sausage cooking."

Suddenly, Rosette felt his arms wrap around her waist and in a flash she was pressed to his chest. She blinked and looked up at him, the questions dying in her throat as he flashed that bright, sexy smile at her. Winking, he leaned down until she was lying back flat on the bed with his body pressing lightly down on top of her. His left arm slid out from under her, leaving his right circling her waist, and traveled up to pass behind her neck. He paused here for a moment, looking down into her eyes before closing the distance and kissing her again.

Rosette was too surprised to do anything at first. She'd never experienced anything like this before, and was unsure about the strange reactions her body seemed to be having. It felt like a little fire was growing in her lower stomach, and soon it was moving throughout her entire frame, warming her and making her shiver at the same time. After a few seconds of inexperienced confusion, she gave herself over to the burning sensation and let it guide her through the unfamiliar motions. Her arms came up and wound loosely around his neck, letting her fingers trace lazily along his shoulders as she arched her back to press her body more tightly against his.

The demon gave a quiet, approving growl and tightened his grip around her waist. Breaking off this kiss and beginning a new one, he slid his tongue between her lips and encouraged hers to play. In a few moments they were kissing deeply, each using their tongue to explore the other's mouth, giving small, playful caresses as the experience continued. Rosette ran her hands slowly down her man's back, exploring the new territory with her fingertips as she felt more of his weight start to press down on her. He was careful not to relax too much, the pressure was comfortable and the feel of him on top of her excited that fire even more. It now seemed concentrated in her lower abdomen, and was working its way down between her legs... and responding to the little flame's desires she hesitantly pushed herself upward, pressing her hips against his. She didn't know exactly what compelled this action, but it definitely felt good. At the same time, all of her nunly upbringing was screeching at her that it was severely wrong, and she felt a warm blush rise to her face, as well as a sudden urge to get out of there.

As if sensing her discomfort, Chrno pulled his tongue back into his own mouth and settled for a quick nibble on her bottom lip before breaking the contact altogether. He pushed himself up slightly and gazed down at her, soaking up her radiance and the beauty of her innocence, but also seeing the hesitation in her sapphire eyes. Reluctantly, he decided that he'd have to settle for those few enjoyable seconds for now. He didn't want to make his girl uncomfortable.

Giving her a small smile, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead before sitting all the way back up. He pulled her up with him and wrapped both arms loosely around her waist, letting her lean heavily on his shoulder. Rosette relaxed into this new position, glad to be out of the somewhat compromising spot they'd been in a few seconds ago, but still enjoying his embrace. After a few moments, she'd forgotten why she'd been uncomfortable in the first place. Sure she didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she could trust Chrno to be careful with her. Sighing deeply, she snuggled closer against him and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat. After a few minutes of comfort, he shifted slightly, and she felt the movement of his chest as he scented the air.

"Seems like breakfast is ready now, love."

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The pair of them made their way to the dining room about ten minutes later, after first finding Chrno some non-blood-soaked clothes. They were a bit early, and so found the table unoccupied. Mrs. Gene was just unloading the last of the eggs and sausage out of a large frying pan, and her husband was standing off to the side in his usual position, sipping his coffee and looking out the window. Rosette quietly cleared her throat to get their attention, and Mr. Gene slowly turned to greet her.

"Why, Rosette my dear. I don't believe I've ever known you to get up this early, not even for a good home-cooked breakfast." He smiled, but this quickly faded as he noticed the girl's companion standing half-a-step behind her.

"You sure you should be moving around already, sonny?" The old man asked, concern obvious on his face.

Chrno smiled reassuringly and pulled up his sleeve to reveal an intact and unmarked arm. Mr. Gene frowned slightly and took a few steps forward, putting his glasses on to get a better look. He reached out and gently took a hold of the other man's arm, twisting it lightly this way and that to get a thorough examination.

"Not a scratch. Not even a scar… that's impossible." The old man said, squinting to look up at Chrno's face. "How did you do that?"

In the background, Mrs. Gene seemed oblivious to the whole scene, determined to set the table before the room was flooded with hungry orphans. But she was actually listening intently. The demon gently pried his arm out of the other man's grasp, and glanced down at the appendage that yesterday could have passed for raw hamburger. He opened and closed his hand a few times, watching the tendons move as he formulated his response.

"Well, I've been exorcising demons for a long time and I've managed to pick up a few tricks along the way…" He murmered, "Healing's just one of them."

Mr. Gene looked confused for a moment.

"You're not using any of the devil's magic or anything, are you?" He asked cautiously, scrutinizing the man's face.

_Uh oh…_

"Um, no sir," Chrno started, "Just the good old wholesome kind." He ended with a weird half-smile, hoping he wasn't being too transparent.

"Well, that's good. Because I won't have any of that go on in my house." He looked up at Chrno again, seeing a bit of nervousness there. _Well here I go, scaring the poor guy_ he thought, and then put on a reassuring smile and reached out to squeeze the man's shoulder. "Now relax, son, I'm not singling you out or anything. I told Rosette that too when she came back from the church. I want you to feel welcome here, just as she does."

Chrno visibly relaxed at this, and Rosette decided to step in and change the subject. _Yeah, great poker face dear, _she thought, scolding herself for not letting him know that Mr. Gene was fairly adamant about running a 'pure and clean' household.

"So, since I haven't formally introduced any of you, this is my old partner Adam, and these are the Genes. They're the closest thing to a real family I've got." She smiled, trying to smooth over any doubts remaining in the old man's mind.

Chrno decided this would be a good time to suck up. "I have to thank you again for finding me in the woods yesterday. It was a pretty bad situation out there, and I definitely appreciate the kindness and hospitality that you've extended me." He stated in a very grateful voice, bowing slightly and reaching out a hand for Mr. Gene to shake. "If there's anything I can do to help you here, just let me know and I'll be glad to do it."

The old man couldn't argue with that, and so shook the demon's hand.

"Well, I'll never have it said about me that I let down somebody in need." Mr. Gene said, returning the demon's sincere smile. "And we need a strapping young man around here. I'm getting too old to do much in the way of lifting things, and my arthritis doesn't let me do much of anything some days."

Chrno nodded, "I'll help out in any way you need. I don't exactly have anywhere else to go right now."

"Well fortunately for you, people with no place to go happen to be our specialty here." The old man said with a wink, and Rosette smiled and quietly agreed.

Suddenly, Mrs. Gene spoke up. "Alright Mr. Adam, If you want to help you can do me a favor and ring that bell over there." She indicated a small, bronzy bell in the corner. "And then the three of you can sit down so you don't get trampled."

"Yes ma'am." Mr. Gene chuckled, and took a seat at the table, while Chrno walked over to ring the bell.

A grand total of five seconds after the breakfast bell had rung, a small stampede formed on the stairs as children spilled out of their rooms and rushed to get to the dining room table. Chrno quickly sat down next to Rosette as the kids flooded the room, each trying to find a seat closest to the food. He kept count as each one sat down, and by the time everyone was settled there were thirteen children quietly talking amongst themselves and jostling each other to get more comfortable. Some of them had noticed the tall stranger right away, while others remained completely oblivious and anxious to get on with breakfast.

The noise level in the room noticeably decreased as Mrs. Gene entered, carrying plates full of eggs and sausage. She silently sat them in the middle of the table and then brought over some pitchers of water and orange juice. The old woman made one more trip for a steaming pot of coffee before taking the one remaining spot at the table next to her husband. When everyone was seated and quiet, Mr. Gene said grace. Chrno ducked his head like everyone else at the table, but tuned out on the words. Instead, he took the time to curse his luck that Rosette was now living with some fairly upright people. He didn't want to lie to them about what he was, but it looked like if he was going to stay with Rosette he'd have to. And he had absolutely no intentions of leaving her again.

He perked back up as "Amen" rumbled around the table and the children began passing around the food-laden plates.

Suddenly, Mr. Gene snapped his fingers.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Everyone, this is Mr. Adam. He's going to be staying here and helping out for as long as wants. I expect you to treat him with the kindness and respect I know you're all capable of."

A few answers of "Yes sir" and some timid "Good morning"s were offered up in response to the last statement before everyone dug in. Chrno tried to focus as much of his attention as possible on his plate, but was still aware of some of the stares he was getting. He allowed himself a few glances around the room to study the kids, looking for any faces he'd recognize from the night of the time freeze. He remembered both Seira and Billy from yesterday and saw a short boy about Billy's age with glasses that also looked familiar. As for the rest of them, he was having a hard time matching them to the stone figures he'd come to know in the years after that wretched night. After several minutes of relative silence, one of the smaller boys got the nerve to speak up.

"Um, escuse me Mister," He asked quietly, "Why's your hair puple?"

"Joseph!" One of the older girls hissed. "That's rude!"

Chrno slowly looked up from his plate to find the young boy staring at him, and the girl shooting him an apologetic look. He swallowed the bite of food in his mouth and regarded the child for a moment. He was small, probably about six, and had sandy brown hair and intensely intelligent and curious green eyes. The expression reminded him a bit of Joshua around story time, and he couldn't help but smile. Thinking for a moment, he decided that this wouldn't be such a bad time to start making friends with the kids. After all, it looked like he was going to be here for a while. So, how to answer this one…

"Well," He began, favoring the boy with a smile and a slightly raised eyebrow, "That's because I didn't eat my vegetables when I was little."

This got a few appreciative chuckles from the adults and some of the older children at the table. Joseph blinked, a look of deep thought crossing his face. Seeing that he wasn't entirely convinced, Chrno decided to continue.

"But you have to watch out, cuz if you eat too many it'll turn green."

Some of the children giggled at that one, but Joseph wasn't swayed.

"But if you didn eat your vegables how's come you growed up to be big an strong?" He asked, looking a bit suspicious.

"Well, I didn't eat my vegetables but I did drink lots of milk." Chrno replied, giving the child a very serious look. "Do you drink milk, Mr. Joseph?"

The child nodded, considering what the man had just said. "I like milk. But I don like broccli."

Chrno was having a hard time keeping a straight face. This kid was good. "Well, you better eat it anyway. You don't want weird hair when you grow up, do you?"

"It's not that weird." One of the other kids muttered before stuffing a rather large bite of sausage in his mouth. A few of the others nodded their heads in agreement and the table returned to a relative silence. It was a more comfortable one now, though.

"I fink I'll eat it." Joseph said, looking down at his plate with a furrowed brow. "But I'm not gunna eat brussels sprouts. They're yucky."

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It was after breakfast, and Mr. Gene had already whisked Chrno off to get some chores done outside. The children had been assigned their tasks for the day and had dispersed a few moments ago, leaving Rosette to help Mrs. Gene clear the table and start washing the dishes. The former nun was positively beaming, humming a tune and tapping her foot as she immersed her arms in the warm, soapy water. She was so wrapped up in thinking about last night and this morning that she didn't notice Mrs. Gene's unusually reserved nature.

After the old woman had brought the dishes over to the sink she had simply stood, leaning slightly on the counter and gazing distantly out the window. This was something she had done years ago, back when Joshua was sick all the time. But since the orphanage was unfrozen and rebuilt, she almost never assumed this posture of worry. It aged her beyond her already numerous years, and should have been a clear sign that something was wrong. In fact, she had been uncharacteristically silent and reserved all morning. Rosette, however, was blissfully unaware.

Mrs. Gene sat quietly for a few minutes, lost in her thoughts and listening to the sloshing of the dishwater and Rosette's humming. As the time passed, she became more and more focused on the girl washing the dishes, and eventually a decision was made and a look of resolve passed over the woman's face.

"Rosette," She spoke quietly. "I think we need to talk about that man."

Completely missing the older woman's grave tone, Rosette turned to look at her with a smile. "Hmmm?"

"I recognize him, Rosette. From the night the orphanage was frozen."

This cut through the girl's bubbly mood like a hot knife through butter.

"W-what do you mean?" She asked, trying to sound innocent.

"I saw." Mrs. Gene stated gravely. "He was with you, I mean, he looked a little different but he was there. And he had wings." Rosette's face grew serious and the woman sighed. "What is he?" She asked simply, staring into the girl's eyes as if searching out the truth.

Rosette blinked and looked down. Fiddling a bit with the water, she tried to think of a way to answer that question in the best possible light.

"What I said before wasn't a lie." She started slowly, carefully picking each word. "He was my partner at the Order for the four years I spent looking for Joshua." _Ok, now the hard part,_ she thought, swallowing a nervous lump. "But we knew each other before that for about six months. Me and Joshua found him in the woods one day, and he was hurt and alone so we started to go visit him whenever Joshua was feeling well enough. He's a demon." The old woman's eyebrows shot up at this and Rosette winced. The Genes' were religious people, and she was sure that their initial reaction to this knowledge would be the same as that of the Order. "He's not evil. In fact, he's pretty much a kitten." She smiled slightly as a few random memories floated through her head. "I mean, he's a demon that worked for the Church, how much more can I say to prove that he's good? And besides, we… um, our souls used to be connected, so I guess you could say that I know him better than anyone else. He's kind and gentle, compassionate, loyal, protective, and my best friend."

Rosette's brilliant blue eyes begged with the stern-faced woman staring at her.

"Please, Mrs. Gene… don't send him away."

The old woman looked down at her hands folded on the countertop. She was silent for a long time and Rosette started to get nervous. _If she does kick him out, what will I do?_

"Did he have any part in the time freeze here?" Mrs. Gene asked quietly.

Rosette blinked, a bit surprised by the question. "Um, his power unfroze it right before he died, I think." She hoped and prayed that the old woman would just accept this answer and not make her have to explain Joshua and the horns. Come to think of it, she didn't know for sure if it was Chrno that had unfrozen this place. After he'd died that day she hadn't had a single thought about Seventh Bell. That is, until she got back to New York and was informed that the building and its inhabitants had suddenly and unexpectedly come back to life. She made a mental note to ask him later, and went back to watching Mrs. Gene's face.

The old woman returned her gaze to Rosette's eyes, staring into their depths and trying to decide what she should do. Eventually, she sighed in defeat.

"Rosette, so much has transpired over the years I was frozen. I don't want to make you explain everything, but I hope that you have told me **all** of the important details. I won't pester you for any more, and I will trust you in this situation." Rosette felt her heart flutter "I think it would be best if Mr. Gene didn't know. I also think it would be best if Adam didn't know that I know about him." The girl nodded adamantly, glad to be hearing that he could stay. "Just understand that my first and only obligation here is to the children. If I see anything from that man that makes me distrust him, I won't hesitate to banish him from this house. I have to ask that if that happens, you will not fight me on it." Rosette quietly agreed, and Mrs. Gene sighed, letting her head droop slightly.

"And now, I think I need to go rest for a while. Would you please gather up all the sheets and start washing laundry after the dishes are done?"

"Yes'm."

"Thank you, dear."

With that, the woman slowly left the counter and made her way upstairs, Rosette casting a worried glance behind her.

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"_Are you sure you don't want to come?"_

(AN: we're in a brief flashback if'n you can't tell  )

"_No thanks, Mr. Gene. I'm still full from breakfast."_

"_Please, call me Robert."_

"…_Alright. I'd actually prefer to stay out here for a while; it's been a long time since I've seen a day this nice."_

"_I have to agree with you there. Listen, I'll send one of the girls out with some lemonade in a few minutes. Don't chop all the wood while I'm gone."_

"_Don't worry, I'll leave some for you."_

"_I'll see you after lunch then."_

"_Bye."_

Chrno sat on a big fallen log just out of sight of the house, soaking up the warmth of the sun. Mr. Gene had brought him out to this site several hours ago, explaining that a large tree had fallen, and they were going to chop it up for firewood during the winter.

"Now, I know it's a bit early to be thinking about that," The old man had said with a chuckle, "But there's a lot of wood here, and if it means we don't have to knock down a tree that's still standing in the fall I'm all for it."

The demon smiled, deciding he liked the man's attitude. If something didn't have to die, why kill it? That was a question he'd thought about a great deal during the years in Mary's tomb, especially because her death was completely unnecessary. Aion's paranoia had simply gotten the better of him, and even though the girl's life was slowly being drained by having to support Chrno's overbearing soul, she still had several years left before his existence would consume hers.

_Mary…_

He'd have to go visit her grave and make sure everything was still in order. Sighing, the demon decided to get off the track of those thoughts. Nothing good ever came of reliving those memories, especially now when he was poised in a position with Rosette to create so many happy ones.

He closed his crimson eyes and tilted his head up to face the sun. _So warm, so comfortable. This is heaven…_

His ear twitched as a stick snapped a few yards behind him. Glancing back, he saw Rosette headed towards him with the promised glass of lemonade, looking slightly irritated at being spotted.

"I was getting so close too." She muttered, no longer worrying about concealing her movements and closing the distance between them noisily.

Chrno smirked. He heard her coming a few minutes ago, but she didn't need to know that. Shifting slightly to stretch some muscles and pop a few joints, he eventually settled back down and patted the log next to him, wanting her to sit.

The demon couldn't help admiring the girl as she approached, cursing the thorn bushes for tugging at her skirt. She had on a simple white shirt whose sleeves came down a few inches past her elbows, all the hems embroidered with tiny blue flowers. Her skirt fell slightly past her knees and was light blue. It flowed whenever she moved, and Chrno liked the way its movement matched that of her hair in the gentle breeze. She had let her beautiful golden locks grow out somewhat, and they now reached midway down her back. The characteristic pigtails Chrno had become accustomed to were absent, and today so was any type of restraint on the long honey curtain, which seemed to roam about as it wished. Around her neck was the pocket watch. It glistened as if it had recently been cleaned and shined, but the dial was dark and the hands no longer moved. They had ceased their slow, tormenting countdown when Rosette died, and the device hadn't sent out its soothing, yet to the demon infuriating, ticking ever since. All-in-all, the girl looked like a goddess.

"You look dazzling." Chrno purred, a grin splitting his face as she came to a stop next to him.

Her cheeks gained a light pink twinge before she handed him the lemonade, sitting down on the log and smoothing out her skirt. The demon looked at her again out of the corner of his eye, getting the sudden urge to pounce on her and do naughty things. However, he restrained himself, remembering the encounter this morning. Instead, he pointedly redirected his gaze at the glass in his hand, swirling its contents a bit and watching the ice cubes clink off each other.

"Did you make this?" He asked, suddenly remembering Rosette's uncanny ability to make cookies taste like dirt.

"No." She answered, avoiding his gaze and trying to keep him from seeing just how flattered she was by his previous statement. "Why?"

"Oh nothing, just suppose it won't be as good, that's all."

"You're a terrible liar." The girl responded, cracking a grin and finally turning to look at him.

Chrno chose that moment to start drinking, hoping he could hide his stupidity inside the glass. It didn't work, and he was soon sending her a sheepish look, waiting for a noogie or some other act of violence to befall him. After a few seconds, it appeared that no harm was going to come of it.

"Want some?" He offered, hugely surprised she hadn't hit him yet.

"No." She answered coyly, tossing her head to throw her hair back over her shoulder, then absently reaching up to run her fingers over the pocket watch. "I'm not that thirsty right now."

"Oh. Ok." The demon responded, letting a comfortable silence grow between them as they both enjoyed the sun's rays.

A butterfly floated past, buoying Chrno's mood as it flew higher and higher. He missed the simplicity and beauty of nature on this planet. As he watched it go, he felt a set of fingers interlace with his own, and Rosette scooted over to lean against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. The demon's heart soared and he felt tears start to well up in his eyes. _Strange reaction… _he thought, and quickly blinked them away. It was just that after that last day in Eden he wasn't expecting to ever experience happiness again. Nor did he think he'd ever get to see Rosette again, or if he did that she'd refuse him, or he'd somehow screw it up like he always managed to do. Sighing lightly, the demon counted his blessings and relaxed, laying his head on top of hers and closing his eyes to enjoy the contact further.

"Hey, Chrno?" The girl asked quietly, trailing the fingers of her free hand over the back of his, "Can you tell me where you've been for the last four years? I… want to know. If it's ok."

Chrno's brows furrowed, and his grip unconsciously tightened on his love's hand. His mind briefly flashed over some of the more brutal memories he'd amassed in that time and an involuntary shudder ran down his body. The girl felt his discomfort, and lightly sandwiched his hand between hers, hoping the warmth would stop his shivering.

"I don't mean to pry, it's just that you seemed so… unlike yourself yesterday. How did you get hurt like that? And when I touched you it was like hugging a block of ice. You were freezing. But more than all that, I just missed you so much. I want to know what was keeping you from me for so long." She didn't want to move from this position, and hoped the pleading tone in her voice would be enough to convince him to talk.

Chrno seemed to be arguing with himself and was silent for a few moments. Rosette waited patiently, snuggling closer to him reassuringly.

_I suppose she deserves to know…_

The demon cleared his throat quietly, trying to decide where to begin.

"That day in Eden, you saw my mother drive a claw through my chest. That didn't kill me, what she was doing was destroying my portal apparatus. That allows demons to travel long distances in an instant, like between Earth and Pandemonium. As soon as that was gone, she transported me back there herself. Don't get me wrong, it hurt like hell but it wasn't a fatal wound." He paused, thinking about what to say next.

"So you were in Pandemonium?" Rosette mumbled quietly, it was more of a statement than a question. "And if you didn't have your portal thing you couldn't zap back here by yourself?"

"Basically. When we got down there, she informed me that I was to pay for my transgressions against her, and my sins against my own race. So I was dragged down into the Pit, which is where those that rebel against Pandemonium and survive are sent to be locked up and tortured. It's an area with a higher latent astral content than anywhere I've ever been, so that you heal faster between beatings, and punishments can occur more frequently." Chrno smiled humorlessly. "You see, if a demon body is supplied with enough astral it can heal from almost anything. So they don't hold back down there."

Rosette's face twisted into a sad expression as the pit of her stomach dropped. _He was being tortured?_

"The temperature down there is way below freezing, just at the tolerable point for demon bodies. You can't stay in one position for more than a few hours at a time, or your body will freeze solid. That makes sleeping kinda hard. Luckily, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, you can heal up in a few hours anyway and as soon as you're completely whole again they come in to start the next round of torture, so you don't really have to worry about oversleeping." Chrno's grip on Rosette's hand started tightening again. "They'd usually alternate between crushing, cutting, boiling, burning, astral starvation, and when they got tired they'd just pit the prisoners against each other and make us fight." By this point, the demon had unconsciously wrapped his other arm around the girl, and was speaking softly, eyes closed. "Time flows differently in Pandemonium. Sometimes it's faster than here, sometimes slower, and sometimes it runs parallel. I counted the days, and they added up to about sixty years before I lost track. I was so scared you were long dead already…"

Rosette hooked her free arm up around his neck. Torture for more than sixty years… she couldn't even fathom that amount of time. Burying her face in his neck, she made some soothing noises and let him fall silent, gently rubbing the tops of his shoulders.

"…I mean, I could take the physical pain. I've dealt with that for ages. It was just the uncertainty that was driving me nuts. I didn't know what had happened to you. Didn't know if you'd been able to move on with your life and find something or someone to make you happy, didn't know if you were safe… just, didn't know."

Rosette cooed, trying to be comforting. But something was bugging her, and she decided to ask.

"Chrno, if you could heal all of your injuries down there, why didn't you just teleport yourself back here?"

"Any injury received from Pandemonium herself never heals right. It's just the way our bodies are made. So I couldn't make it back here myself, even if I tried." Chrno murmured.

"She's that powerful?" Rosette wondered, running her fingers around the collar of his shirt.

"You see now why Aion killed her? The Sinners wouldn't have made it very far if she'd have still been alive."

"… So, how did you get here?"

Chrno was quiet for a moment, trying to recall the somewhat fuzzy experience. "It was a bone-crushing kind of day, I could tell by the snaps and screams coming from the deepest parts of the Pit. When it was my turn the guards came and got me, but it was kind of weird because they worked over my arm and half of my chest and then they just stopped. One of them growled and looked at me, then there was a bright flash and the next thing I know I'm back here. I was disoriented, and heard my mother's voice echoing in my horns. She told me that Earth was going to be my place of exile, and that I was to never show myself in Pandemonium again. Not hard, considering I physically can't send myself back there anymore. So, I slid back into a human form and focused on healing. The rest, you already know."

Taking a shuddering breath, the demon pulled out of the embrace and turned to look down into Rosette's face. The girl met his eyes with an expression of profound sadness and compassion.

"I'm so sorry Chrno."

"It's alright," He answered, smiling wearily. "I had a lot to atone for. I'm just lucky to still be alive."

She shook her head and looked down, feeling a small wave of depression hit her. _I was only alone for four years and sometimes it felt like I couldn't handle it. Chrno was by himself and in pain for longer than I've been alive. He's such a good person, that isn't right._

The demon curled his arm around her shoulders once again and leaned in to kiss her forehead.

"It's ok. We're both here now, all the events of the past are over and done with as far as I'm concerned. Let's not be depressed or angry or hurt anymore. Now it's time to relax and enjoy life."

Rosette sighed and looked up at him. S_o positive… how do you do that? How do you always make me feel so much better? _She smiled slightly and leaned up for a small kiss, murmuring against his lips:

"I love you."

Chrno kissed her lightly a second time, tasting her natural sweetness before responding

"I love you too."

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(AN: same scene, about 10 minutes later. That just felt like a good place for a pause… 15 pages, gah.)

"So," Chrno started, running his fingers up and down Rosette's arm. "Why exactly are you calling me Adam?"

"Oh!" The girl exclaimed. She'd gotten so comfortable curled up with her demon that she'd completely forgotten about explaining that to him. Pushing herself up a bit more, she tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ears and started in.

"Well, the Order wanted to sever all connections between you and the Church after the San Francisco incident. That's why they sent Remington to kill you."

Chrno nodded, adjusting himself to fit the girl's new position. He knew that part.

"Sister Kate was replaced with Father Draum a few days after I came back from Eden. He used to sit on the council, and was dead set on cleaning up the New York branch and making sure that everyone knew that demons are evil." A scowl crossed her face. "I'm sure you can tell we didn't get along so well."

The demon smirked. He could only imagine.

"So, one day about a month after you disappeared he called me into his office and told me that the council had just made a few official decisions relevant to me. He said that they decided it would go down in the history books that Chrno the Sinner was an evil, violent demon and he'd been killed by Father Remington in a duel. He also said that from now on we were to refer to the human you by the codename Adam. He said Remington had been using that name for you in official reports for years so that in the future anyone looking through old records wouldn't get suspicious." Rosette paused to lightly clear her throat, trying not to get caught up in the anger of that particular memory. "Father Draum wanted everyone to speak about you as if you were human, so that eventually the fact that a demon worked for the Church would be forgotten. I wouldn't stand for it at the time, and as soon as Joshua was well enough to leave the Order I went too and ended up here."

Chrno shifted slightly and scratched his nose, looking down at the girl next to him to make sure she was done. Judging by her silence, that was the end of her little tale.

"So, why do you need to call me that here?" He asked, a little confused.

"Well, it's probably nothing, but I figured if word got out that there was a new guy lurking around named Chrno that might raise a few eyebrows. And according to Father Draum, you're evil and he'd probably send someone out to kill you. Adam just has a more, um, human ring to it." She smiled up at him, ignoring the raised eyebrow she got in return.

The demon simply looked at her for a few seconds before giving a small sigh. "Makes sense, I guess." He said with a shrug. "But you know, since my horns are back the Magdalan Order couldn't kill me if they tried."

Rosette chidingly poked him in the ribs. "Overconfident, much?"

"No. You've never seen me at full power before." He answered a bit darkly. "I always held back because I didn't want to hurt you. If I tried, I could have drained your entire life in a single attack."

Rosette's eyes widened a bit.

"But let's hope I never have to hit anything that hard to knock it down." Chrno said, all the grimness being replaced with a smile.

The girl nodded. _Yeah, that would be scary…_

"So, do I have a last name?" The demon asked, idly playing with the fingers on her right hand.

"Um, Smith? I think?"

Chrno chuckled a bit. "Yeah, cuz I look so much like a Smith."

"Hey, you don't like it go tell the council. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to see you." Rosette responded, smirking.

The demon put on a mock pout. "But I'm not all that bad. In fact," He said, leaning in with a devious grin, "I can be quite good when I want to be."

He then placed a warm kiss on the base of her neck. Using the arm he had wrapped around her shoulders he gently pulled her more towards himself, abandoning her hand with his right to encircle her waist as well. Rosette tensed up a bit at first, but as she felt his grip tighten she relaxed her upper body, letting her head roll back to expose more of her neck. The demon obligingly ran a series of kisses up her throat, pausing right under her chin, and then coming back down the other side.

The young woman could feel him taking in deep breaths, pulling in her scent and savoring it before letting the air back out. She giggled lightly as the air flow tickled her, and felt her heart start to beat faster as his tongue ran lightly over her collar bone. She could feel the gentle brush of his fangs as he began to focus his attention lower, kissing down the parts of her chest her shirt exposed and hesitantly moving off in other directions as he came into contact with the piece of cloth impeding his progress. Rosette fleetingly considered wiggling out of it and letting him go to town, but her modesty again got the better of her. Who knows who would catch them out here?

When his lips had touched every inch of her exposed skin, the demon slowly sat up, still holding her close. Rosette straightened too and looked at him, tying up his bloody eyes with her sapphires. He was smiling handsomely, and actually doing a decent job of hiding his disappointment that he had to stop there.

"I don't ever want to push you into something you're not comfortable with, you know that right?" He asked, again using that incredibly silky and soothing voice.

Rosette nodded, gently prying one of her arms free from his grasp and stroking his cheek.

The demon looked down, "It's just that you're quite irresistible, and I can't help myself sometimes." He said, with a wolfish grin, which gradually faded, being replaced by a look of resolve. "I love everything about you Rosette, and I hope one day I can make you mine. Completely. But, I promise I won't touch you until you're ready." One look at his face was plenty of evidence to show he was dead serious.

Rosette blushed deeply at the implications of that comment. Her head spun, trying to figure out how she felt about that. Somehow, she knew he was that serious about her, but for him to come out and say it like that…

"I, um," She said, shaking the nervousness out of her voice. "I'd like that. I… want you to be mine too." She smiled, watching his ears perk up at that statement. "I mean, that's how I always imagined it, and it just wouldn't be right if it was anyone else."

Chrno shook his head slightly, never breaking eye contact. He looked like he was going to say something, but then stopped himself, settling instead for a big grin.

"You never cease to amaze me, you know that?"

Rosette winked and tweaked his ear lightly. "Yup."

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That has to be the most inspired last line I've ever written. (Grumbles)

So, classes start up again next Tuesday. This means that more than likely you won't see an update on this story in a looooooooong time, unless I start to make the chapters shorter and more to the point. I admit, this is dragging a bit so far but I swear there will eventually be the excitement of a plot. A twisty plot. Like a pretzel.

Anyway, I'm trying to get an update out on my other story too before I go, but I know if I promise anything writer's block will strike me down. So no promises.

Please Review and have a happy day!

SR


	5. Chapter 5

Hi all!

OMG It has been FOREVER since I updated!

So, this is a limey, limey chapter. In fact, there isn't really any other point to it. Just senseless lime… but sometimes that's ok.

For those of you looking for an update on He Did What! I've already had three false starts on it, and as of right now I have four pages done. My chapters tend to be in the 10-15 page range (For reference, this chapter is 14 pages long), so it might be a while. Sorry, my brain's just not feeling the angst right now.

Anyway, I wrote this chapter as a break between three other papers and the umpteen bazillion chapters of reading I have to do for classes, so I apologize for any weird sentences or general suckiness.

Ooo! I get to give shout outs! (Authoress cannot _believe_ she just used that term… erm, heh.)

So yeah, here's an excerpt for you all from an e-mail from Yamiko Number 7, who I think severely needs her head examined:

"And I've been pondering this for a while, but I still can't find an answer...why do you deign to read my writing crap when yours is so very much better? Much confusion…"

What are you talking about woman? I think everyone reading this should march their little butts over to the K-T board and read and review her stories after you're done reading this one. Seriously. All the cool kids are doing it.

Same goes for Shnoosh, who is an awesome author and is seriously going to make my head swell :)

And finally, anyone who knows SR in real life know that she has a HUGE thing for pirates, so ThyCrimsonPirate: Have my babies. Please:P

And to all other reviewers and other random people who read my crap and don't review: Many hugs.

Let's get on with the chapter!

Discalimer: Scarred Rose doesn't own Chrno Crusade… but is getting volume 7 of the manga in the mail any day now! Woot!

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It was late afternoon on a Sunday. The chores were done, the house was spotless, and Mrs. Gene had just started on dinner. The aroma of chopped onions and sizzling beef wafted through the open kitchen window and out into the clearing in front of the house, where the unruly, ankle-high grass tickled at the bare feet of the children.

It had been two months since Chrno had come to live at Seventh Bell, and he seemed to be fitting in quite nicely. The children simply adored his stories, piggy-back rides, and all the funny faces he could make; not to mention his generally sweet nature and the fact that he _dared_ poke fun at Rosette. One of the favorite sights that had become commonplace around the orphanage was the pissed-off ex-nun chasing around her demon companion with a boot, screaming threats while he tried not to laugh too hard.

Today he seemed to have avoided any rage from the fiery blonde, despite the merciless tickling he'd given her last night, and was busying himself entertaining the kids. They had already played a rather epic game of tag, and since all of the children had ended up being "it" at least once they decided to gang up on the unfortunate man to bring him down.

Rosette wandered outside just in time to witness them pounce, four kids to each arm and two to each leg, and with a startled yelp Chrno toppled, landing on his back with an audible thump amongst the giggling and cheers of the orphans. It was all a show of course; even if four full-grown men latched onto both of the demon's arms it wouldn't be enough to bring him down if he didn't want to fall.

The girl looked on as Chrno grinned down at the kids, acknowledging their triumphant looks by "trying" to lift his arms, but of course failing miserably. She couldn't help but blush as his deep laughter filled the air, and she found herself briefly caught up in the happy memories she and her demon had formed at night behind closed doors. Shaking her head to clear out the oh-so-naughty thoughts, her mind began moving in another direction. The one goal she had set this morning had been to get back at her "loving boyfriend" for what he did last night…

It had all started when they'd been curled around each other in his bed. It was August, and the heat and humidity were positively sweltering. They had lain together for a few uncomfortable hours before the demon had meekly suggested that they lose a few layers of clothing to cool off. Rosette, of course, had soundly thunked him on the head for such an idea, but about twenty minutes of sweat later she had given out a frustrated growl and wriggled out of her clothes, all the way down to her bra and panties. As Chrno had undressed and laid back down next to her, the discomfort set in. Sure, she loved him and thrilled in his touch, but she had never revealed this much of herself to him before. Or visa versa, she thought, clamping her eyes shut even though she was already facing away from him. He was so handsome… how did she measure up? Plus… well, plus they were almost naked. Her and Chrno, lying together in a bed, almost naked. The implications there were pretty staggering to any girl from the 20's.

So naturally, she'd almost jumped out of her skin when she felt his hand slide onto her stomach and chest press flush against her back. Bare skin pressed firmly to bare skin… The poor girl turned magenta and started stammering like an idiot before spinning in his embrace and smacking him as hard as she could. The demon was temporarily stunned before bringing a hand up to gingerly touch his stinging cheek. The hurt in his eyes was plainly evident for all of five seconds before he regained his composure, muttering a quiet apology and turning over to scoot to the edge of the bed.

Rosette immediately regretted it. Of course he wasn't thinking that way… well, he might have been but he would never act on those thoughts without her permission. He had told her that every time she had showed the tiniest bit of discomfort with anything he did. Oi. She felt about an inch tall right now. He did not deserve that.

So, how to make it up to him?

The girl was lost in an internal argument for a few minutes, but she felt worse and worse as the time passed, laying there and staring at her love's back. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore and made up her mind. Swallowing nervously, she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, leaning up slightly to pull the garment off. Her eyes remained locked on Chrno, who twitched an ear when she moved, but remained otherwise still. _Good boy_. Quickly, she tossed the thin piece of fabric off of the bed and then pulled off her panties, throwing them to the side as well. She glanced down at herself, completely nude except for the pocket watch, which sat silently between her breasts. The nervousness almost consumed her completely at this point, but then one thought crawled into her mind and pushed all the others out.

I love this man. More than anything.

I love him…

_Well, here goes nothing…_

Taking a deep breath, Rosette slid across the rumpled sheets and tentatively brushed her fingertips over the demon's upper arm. To her surprise, he didn't move; only a small twitch from his ear let her know he wasn't asleep. That slap must have hurt more than she thought… A deep well of regret flowed up into the girl's throat, and without hesitation she pressed herself fully against him, looping her arms around his chest and burying her face into the crook of his neck. She inhaled deeply, nuzzling into his skin as his long, purple hair started to mix in with her own.

"R-Rosette?" His startled voice floated over to her, and by the tone she could tell he was a healthy shade of pink.

_Good, now I'm not the only idiot blushing…_ she thought, feeling her own cheeks turn a rosy hue again.

"Chrno, I'm sorry." She murmured, squeezing him a bit tighter and pushing herself even more securely into his back. "I guess you just startled me is all. I… I've never done anything like this before. But it's ok. I just want you to know that I trust you, and I love you."

After a brief pause the demon slowly nodded and reached for her hand, interlacing their fingers and resting both their arms against his chest.

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" He asked in an unusually small voice, running his thumb across the back of her hand a bit more cautiously than normal. "You know I don't want to push you into anythi-"

"Shut up." Her response was quiet but very firm. "Just stop it. We're in love right? So it's ok for us to be like this. We're going to have to look at each other eventually." She sighed lightly in exasperation, running the fingers of her free hand over his chest. "So, I guess what I'm saying is that you can look if you want. I don't mind. But, if you look at me I get to look at you too. We square?"

Chrno shook his head slightly in disbelief, but couldn't help smirking at her commanding tone. Always the boss… He sighed. But it wasn't really like he had a problem with that. He took a few seconds to consider her words before turning his head just enough to gaze into her eyes.

"That works for me."

The demon turned a bit more, rubbing his nose against hers before closing his eyes and kissing her softly. The girl returned it, pulling back slightly as she felt him shift and turn to face her without breaking the kiss and squirm out of the last cloth barrier that separated them from one another. Her heart started to pound as he reached for her, pulling her tightly against his chest and sliding his tongue between her lips. She swallowed harshly before gingerly rubbing her tongue against his, running her fingers up his back and into his hair, where they immediately lost themselves in the thick tangles.

Chrno hesitantly set one of his hands on her side and slowly began to move it along the curve of her waist, traveling from just under her breast to the widest part of her hip and back again. The girl felt her skin start to tingle at the combination of his lips pressing desirously against hers and the electrifying nature of his fingertips as they continued their circular journey at an agonizingly slow pace that seemed to keep slowing down and growing lighter and lighter until…

A giggle.

Then two.

The demon broke the kiss reluctantly and gave her a concerned look.

"Are you ok dear?"

Rosette laughed a few more times, scooting further away from him to catch her breath and lightly slapping his hand away. She finally looked back at him grinning genuinely, for although she was laughing it wasn't so much that the sensation of his hand moving against her skin was… uncomfortable. More like it was so pleasant her brain didn't know how to interpret it.

"I'm wonderful you goof." She replied, blushing as she looked him over, temporarily forgetting they were now completely naked. "And, uh, you… well…" The blush deepened and she looked away, smiling secretly to herself. _So that's what _it_ looks like, huh? Wow._

"Oh!" The demon turned fuchsia and gave a single amused chuckle. "Yeah, well… me. Heh." His smile was slightly more meek than usual, but still as completely dazzling as ever. "But you, love, you are absolutely stunning, if you don't mind me saying so."

Rosette looked back up at him, a bit of reality crawling back into her expression. "You just think so cuz you love me." She said shyly, hugging herself and snuggling back into her sheets cutely.

"No. Come on now, how can you possibly think you're anything besides exquisite?" He asked, scooting over to her and embracing her again. "You are a shining star that refuses to be overshadowed by either the moon or the sun. Nothing and no one can blot you out." The demon planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Now cheer up, or else."

"Or else what?" The blonde responded, a bit of playfulness working its way back into her tone, smile firmly in place thanks to the string of compliments from her boyfriend.

"This." The girl felt his fingertips land lightly on her stomach and begin tracing the same path they had only a few minutes before. She gasped as the fiery sensation washed over her again, and immediately started batting at his hand as the first few giggles began to escape her throat. The demon was undaunted by her light slaps and grinned evilly, bringing his other hand up to trace the same path along her other side. After a few minutes the unfortunate girl was completely in stitches, trying to roll away from her demonic bedmate but failing as his hands kept her more-or-less stuck in place.

"Chrno," The girl managed to squeeze out between the laughs and wheezes, "Chrno, stop it. You're going to tickle me to death!"

The onslaught continued despite her weakly-voiced protests, and the ex-nun finally tried to shoot her partner one of her patented death glares to let him know that she was no longer amused. Unfortunately, her intimidation factor was all but shot by the childish merriment that continued to flow from her treacherous lungs, and the whole effect was comical, not scary. With that method failing, she looked up into Chrno's eyes, trying to get him to stop with a sad-puppy face; but as their gazes locked he simply stuck his tongue out at her and chuckled.

Oh, that did it.

Growling, or trying to, Rosette reared back and started punching him repeatedly in the chest, hiccupping as she tried to catch her breath. The demon simply laughed at her again, allowing each of the blows to land solidly on his toned midsection, but not letting them stop his busy fingers.

"You are SO going to regret this tomorrow!" The girl ground out, narrowing her eyes dangerously as she pulled her fist back for another hit. A hit that never connected, as she suddenly found herself on her back with Chrno on top of her, gripping both of her wrists and grinning with an expression that could only be called devilish.

He paused this way for a few seconds, letting the fact that he had turned the tables sink in before transferring both of her slender wrists into his left hand and then pinning them above her head. The demon leaned down, still smiling wickedly until he was only a few inches away from her nose.

"I know I'm gonna get it tomorrow." He whispered, setting his free hand on her stomach and causing her to twitch involuntarily. She was a bit hypersensitive. "But for now…" The grin widened as his fingers started tracing the familiar path until the girl was again consumed in laughter, so much so that tears started to roll down her face.

Back in the present, Rosette's eyes narrowed and she fisted her hands, glaring at the demon who was still flat on his back with a mountain of children on top of him. _You think that's funny, do you?_ She thought, letting her mind race through the options for revenge, until suddenly one clicked into place.

The corners of her mouth turned up in an evil smile, and she purposefully rolled up her sleeves before jumping off the porch and making a beeline for the unfortunate man. He glanced up as the ex-nun approached, smiling warmly. In return, she gave him an innocent grin and a small wave.

While most people would have been reassured by these gestures, Chrno had known the somewhat violent ex-nun for far too long, and the look on his face quickly turned suspicious. He stared at her for a few seconds, a clear "what are you up to?" plastered across his features until suddenly realization dawned. Quickly, the demon looked down at himself, noting that he was being pinned down by over a dozen orphans. He immediately looked back up at the approaching girl and gulped.

_Uh oh…_

Rosette walked right up to his side, still smiling sweetly, and turned to face him, planting one foot ominously on either side of his body.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Adam." She called out to him, the look on her face swiftly losing its friendliness and growing more and more malicious by the second.

"Good afternoon Miss Rosette." He responded, expression incredibly sheepish as he tried to disappear underneath the mass of kids. "How are you today?"

"Me, oh, I'm just grand today Mr. Adam." The girl stated, eyes narrowing as she stuck both pointer fingers into her mouth. "How, pray tell, are you?"

"I'm, um, hopefully not expecting any impending death…" He replied, pleading her with his eyes not to do anything too cruel.

"Oh, no impending death Mr. Adam." Rosette cooed, "Just some good, old-fashioned torment!" With that, the girl dropped down onto the demon's stomach, straddling him tightly as she leaned forward and stuck her now-wet fingers into his ears.

There were a few seconds of perfect silence. And then…

"WAAAAAAAAUGH! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" Chrno cried, squirming under his blonde companion, who was laughing maniacally and mercilessly twisting her fingers further into his ears.

"So, you like that, do you?" She yelled, completely ignoring the incredulous stares she was getting from the children surrounding her. "Then how about some MORE?" The girl continued her actions, giggling like a crazy person and reveling in the reestablishment of her dominance and the clear discomfort she was causing her boyfriend.

"Rosette! Rosette, that's DISGUSTING! KNOCK IT OFF!" The abused devil roared, trying not to thrash too much so as not to hurt the children. Oh, Rosette was sneaky, conniving, and evil all rolled up into one pretty little girl today. He gritted his teeth and wished to God that the kids weren't here… at least then he could run away. Now that he was in his adult form his legs were much longer than Rosette's and most of the time he could get away… "Ughn… Rosette, quit it! UNCLE! Come on, I said UNCLE!"

"What? Oh, Adam, I can't hear you. Guess it's cause I'm LAUGHING too HARD!" The girl was now getting a bit frenzied, making sure he knew exactly why she was torturing him. Revenge is SOOO sweet!

After a few minutes of this craziness the kids eyed each other nervously and swiftly scooted off Chrno's limbs, not wanting to be taken out by any of the spare wrath they knew Rosette could dish out. The demon's eyes widened as he felt the weight start to move off of him, and he started wiggling his arms slightly to encourage the other children to evacuate.

Rosette was way too caught up in her fun to notice her only protection leaving, but as soon as the last child was off, she suddenly found herself suspended in the air. With a yelp, she quickly wrapped her legs around the only support she could find, and was only prevented from falling when a strong pair of arms looped around her back. The girl blinked twice, glancing down at the ground for a few seconds before registering that Chrno had stood up, and it was his waist her legs were wrapped around and his arms that were holding her tightly to his chest. With another yelp, the girl pushed off of him and landed on the ground, cheeks pink. Truth be told, she had no problem with that position, it was just that her and Chrno's relationship was still a secret to everyone else in the orphanage, one that neither one of them wanted to reveal just yet. Rosette shot the demon a warning look before standing up and dusting herself off.

"Well I hope you learned your lesson." She muttered, sending him a miffed glare.

"Yeah. Truce?" He whispered, a pleading tone in his voice as both of his hands flew up to cover his poor, violated ears.

She couldn't possibly stay mad at him when he looked like that… in fact, she had to stifle a giggle at his thoroughly whipped expression. With a somewhat frustrated sigh, the girl felt her rage start to die down, and she reached up to tweak his ear once more in irritation before nodding.

"No more tickling." She said firmly, to which the demon wholeheartedly agreed, nodding reassuringly. Rosette shot him one more annoyed look before giving out a large huff and letting all her anger go with it. Turning to the orphans, who were still sending the pair curious glances, she ordered them inside to wash up for supper.

After all the children had started heading towards the house Rosette turned to go as well. She was quickly stopped when Chrno gently grabbed her wrist and gave her a little tug towards himself. The girl looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and he leaned down to whisper something in her ear, releasing her wrist when he was sure she wasn't going to go anywhere.

"So now I know your thoughts on tickling… what did you think about what happened after that?" He asked quietly.

Rosette flushed and looked at the ground. Oh yeah, that part… "That was… well… amazing." She answered sincerely, directing her gaze back up at his face and smiling conspiratorially.

"Any chance you could come over again tonight?" He asked, a hint of something dark seeping into his intense crimson gaze. Right now his eyes were positively mesmerizing.

Rosette wanted nothing more than to say yes. In fact, if they didn't have to make an appearance at dinner she'd take him by the hand and lead him to a bedroom right now. But… "I can't, love. I'm on duty tonight."

The demon sighed once in disappointment before banishing the emotion and beaming at her. "Ok then. Later this week?"

Rosette giggled at his eagerness and flicked his nose. "Yeah, next time we're both off night duty. If you're this excited about just fooling around with me I can't imagine what you're going to be like when we actually start doing _it_."

Chrno chuckled and glanced up at the house to make sure all the children were inside before quickly running his tongue along the outside of her ear. "Darling, you have no idea."

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It was dinnertime. Everyone had just started eating, so there was a perfect silence hanging over the table, only marred by the sounds of chewing and swallowing and the clink of spoons on bowls. Tonight's entrée: Mrs. Gene's somewhat famous beef stew and fresh-baked rolls. This was always a favorite, and the usual mealtime banter was completely absent until the first of the children started to finish up. Of course, by this time Rosette was already on her second helping, and some of the kids had slowed the progress of their spoons to watch the frenzied action of hers.

As usual, Chrno sat back in his chair, eating at a leisurely pace and keeping one eye on his blonde partner. Sometimes he was just as fun to watch as Rosette because he had a bird's eye view of any choking incidents and always had a smart comment to shoot at her when she recovered. Really, the orphans had no idea how he'd managed to survive this long.

Suddenly, and not surprisingly, Rosette became overcome in a coughing fit. Chrno sighed and set his bowl down on the table, leaning forward to pat the girl's back until the fit receded. As soon as she was breathing normally again, Mrs. Gene made a comment about being "lady-like", but Rosette didn't hear it. This is because at that exact moment she felt both of her demon's hands on her body. One was rubbing her back soothingly in plain view, but the other one was hidden under the tablecloth, squeezing her upper thigh through her skirt…

The rush of heat was amazingly intense and seemed to temporarily block out everything else, letting the memories from last night flood her mind. His hands traveling all over her body, down her shoulders, back, stomach, and legs, gently fondling her breasts before his lips took their place, allowing his hands to move down lower, running tightly between the junction of her legs…

"Rosette? Dear, really, you must eat slower. Rosette, are you listening?"

The older woman's voice finally broke through the girl's fleeting daydream, and she shook her head to clear out the powerful sensations. "Oh, yes ma'am." She managed to reply, sitting up in her chair and sliding back away from Chrno's fingers. "I'll slow down." She leaned over near the demon, pretending to grab another napkin and using the excuse to whisper the word "Patience" to him.

_Just be patient…_ She thought.

But who was she convincing?

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Rosette and Seira had just finished putting the girls to bed and were making their way back to their rooms, talking idly about this and that. They had just passed the upstairs bathroom when Chrno quickly jogged up behind them, apparently done bedding down the boys.

"Hi!" He greeted them, smiling broadly as his feet padded softly along the hallway carpet. "How are you ladies doing tonight?"

"I'm good, Adam." Seira replied with a light blush. She'd developed a crush on the handsome demon soon after they found him in the woods. In fact, all three of the female teenage orphans had as well, and he was definitely a favorite among the even younger girls, who had no idea why he made them blush and giggle so much yet. Rosette could definitely see why he was so popular, admiring his bare chest, burning eyes, and striking features as he approached. He was wearing his usual dazzling smile and gave both girls a wink as he approached. Yes, he was completely gorgeous. _And he's all mine…_

"And Miss Rosette?" He asked, coming to a stop a few feet in front of the girls, who had both waited for him to catch up. "Are you well this evening?"

"Of course." She answered, returning the bright smile he gave her. It still amused her that he insisted on calling her "Miss" in front of other people. "Seira and I were actually just getting ready to turn in for the night."

"Really?" He asked, eyebrow slightly raised. "Well, I suppose I should be the gentleman here and make sure the two of you get safely to your rooms." The demon adopted a mock-suspicious air and glanced conspiratorially left and right. "You never know what kind of evil is lurking in these halls." Rosette didn't miss the significant look he tagged onto the end of that statement, meant for her alone.

Seira giggled and stuck out her arm, which Chrno took, offering his other one to Rosette. She simply rolled her eyes, remembering a scene almost exactly like this one from back when he used to play with her and Joshua out in the woods. The demon gave her a little nudge, and she finally looped her arm through his, acting for all the world like she was humoring a child. They walked the remaining ten feet down the hall to Seira's room slowly, whispering about who had behaved well today and what the chore assignments were tomorrow. When they reached the younger girl's door she extricated her arm from the demon's and waved goodnight to both of them, closing the door silently behind her. As soon as she was inside the demon's sensitive ears picked up the noise of a breathy sigh and he shook his head slightly, a small grin growing on his face.

"You shouldn't encourage her, you know." Rosette murmured, passing his arm around her hips and securing hers about his waist now that they were alone in the hallway. "Certain people might get jealous."

"Certain people have nothing to be jealous about." Chrno muttered good-naturedly, beginning to walk them towards Rosette's room at the end of the hall. "I know who I belong to."

"Damn right you do." The girl whispered, resting her head on his chest as they came to a stop in front of her room. She didn't want him to leave, but she had night duty that evening, which meant that if any of the children needed anything while the rest of the household was asleep they would come knock on Rosette's door. She and Chrno each had night duty two nights a week and Seira picked up the other three. This meant that she and her demon only had alone time together three times a week, and usually these weren't consecutive days. Needless to say, this had put a small dent in their love life, a fact that was currently irking the ex-nun to no end. Between her partner's advances that afternoon and at dinner and the unceasing antics of her own hungry mind she had herself all worked up for tonight, but it just couldn't happen.

Grrrrrr!

"Well darling, I suppose I should let you get some rest." Chrno pulled himself out of their embrace, settling for holding onto her hand. He looked down into her eyes, loving how the moonlight shining in through a nearby window accentuated their natural sparkle. With a small smile, he brought her hand up to his lips and left a chaste kiss along her knuckles, the whole time not breaking eye contact. God, he didn't want to leave.

Rosette gazed back up at her demon. He clearly did not want to go… and she didn't want him to either. _So,_ her mind piped in, _why does he have to go?_

_Well, he doesn't._

Rosette felt a devious smile tug the corners of lips upward, and she leaned back to open her door, letting her eyelids droop seductively. Chrno gave her a look that was half curious and half clouded with poorly-concealed lust as she gave his hand a little tug and led him inside her room, closing the door behind them.

"Rosette, we shouldn't be doing this right now…" He murmured, but his actions completely betrayed his words as his arms slid around her waist and his head dipped down so that the tips of their noses touched. "You're on call tonight."

The girl smirked and reached behind him, tugging the yellow ribbon out of his hair and letting it fall loose. "I'm only on call if someone's calling." Her fingers traveled through his hair up to the base of his skull where she found the knot in his bandana and quickly undid it, tossing the red cloth aside.

"What if someone hears?" He asked quietly, biting his bottom lip as their breath intermingled. As if on their own, his hands slid up her back and gently undid the single ponytail holding her hair up. He shivered involuntarily as the honey curtain fell, releasing more of her scent into the air and filling his already saturated nose with a hint of strawberries. The devil's control was almost shot. He wanted this girl. Now. Last night he'd finally gotten to look at her, and afterwards a taste… but only a brief sampling of her sweet flesh. He still had not actually claimed her for his own, and the desire was getting to be too much for him to handle. Every time he looked at her, every smile, every innocent gesture… He growled audibly as the girl's fingers started a journey down his chest, and the light tinkling of her lusty laughter filled his ears.

"We'll be quiet…" Rosette whispered breathily as her fingertips danced down his quivering abs and hesitantly moved around to grab his butt. That was about all Chrno could take and he immediately crossed the small gap between their lips, pressing hungrily against them as his hands pushed gently at her shoulders, getting her to lean back just enough for him to cup her breasts and start gently squeezing them.

Rosette moaned quietly into his mouth, trying not to let any of the tiny noises escape into her room. Taking a more secure hold on his rear the girl snugged her hips up against his and started slowly grinding them together. This was a little trick she'd learned only a few weeks ago, but his reaction was always the same. She felt all the breath leave the demon's lungs in a rush, along with a rumbling noise that was half growl and half whimper. Rosette smiled internally, she loved having this effect on him. Reaching up with one hand she started tracing lightly along one of his pointed ears. This too brought a thoroughly satisfied growl, and it almost felt like he was going to come apart when she started doing both actions in unison.

Stifling a snarl, Chrno pulled himself back away from the girl just long enough to grab the bottom of her nightshirt and slide it off over her head. Almost immediately his hands flew to her back, fumbling with the clasp on her bra and pulling her flat to his chest so he had more room to work. After a few seconds, the girl was ready to reach back and help him, but as soon as her hands made the move the clasp came undone and he pulled it off, muttering something along the lines of "infernal contraption", which only made Rosette giggle. He paused briefly to give her a small smile before leaning her back again and tracing over one of her breasts with his tongue. Rosette shuddered and arched her back, letting all of her weight rest on his arm. He'd introduced her to the talents of his tongue last night, and she was eager to experience them again, taking several deep breaths now because she knew that later she wouldn't have the opportunity.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

The couple froze. Rosette straightened back up, leaning on Chrno and immediately locking eyes with him. He was panting and flushed, but wrapped his arms tightly around her, determined to hide her body with his in case the door opened. Thankfully, it didn't.

"Miss Rosette?" A tiny voice asked, filtered by the door but still audible in the small room.

The girl gave Chrno a pained expression and rested her forehead on his chest, sliding both of her arms up and around his neck in a loose, apologetic embrace.

"Yes Mark? What's wrong?" She asked, trying to keep any tremors or unevenness out of her voice.

"Kevin threw up, and he doesn't look that good." The small boy responded, sounding remarkably patient for someone who had just been awoken to send a message.

"Oh. Ok, I have to get dressed but I'll be there in a few minutes." Rosette responded, curling her fingers into Chrno's hair. He, in turn, rested his chin on her shoulder and kissed her lightly right behind the ear. "Why don't you go back and watch him until I get there, ok?"

"Ok." The sound of light feet moving along the carpet signaled to both of them that the child had headed back to the boys' room, and as soon as they were sure he couldn't hear them they completely collapsed against each other.

"I'm sorry baby." Rosette whispered, nuzzling deeply into Chrno's neck.

"S'ok love." He responded, gently rubbing the tops of her shoulders. "When are you off next?"

"Tomorrow night, then I work Tuesday." The girl replied, snuggling into his warmth and sincerely wishing she didn't have to let go.

"Hmm. I work tomorrow night, but I'm off Tuesday and Wednesday." The demon mused. "Please tell me you're off on Wednesday."

"I think I am."

"Will you come to my room?" He asked, sounding a bit pathetic at the prospect of sleeping alone that long. "I'd really like it…"

"Definitely." Rosette answered, giving her man a tight squeeze before reluctantly wiggling out of the embrace and looking for her clothes. "But I have to go right now. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for." Chrno stated, smiling warmly at her. "We'll be together again in three days." He handed the girl her shirt before standing up and offering her his hand, pulling her up into a loose hug when she took it. Rosette relaxed against him for a few fleeting seconds before giggling and giving him a shove, pulling out of his arms so she could head towards the door.

"Down, boy. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" She said lightly, waving at him over her shoulder as she reached the doorknob.

"Hey, Rosette?" Chrno called just as she was turning the knob.

"What?" She asked, turning slightly and raising an eyebrow. The demon was staring at her with a small smile and a cute little blush.

"I love you."

The girl smiled happily, looking down at the ground to try and keep her cheeks from going pink. As usual, it didn't work. "I love you too Chrno." She murmured, and with that, she disappeared through the door.

Chrno sat there for a few seconds, listening to his beautiful blonde girl disappear down the hallway. With a sigh, he walked over to the wall and leaned his forehead against the doorjamb, running his fingers roughly through his hair in irritation.

"Three days." The demon muttered, "Just three more days…"

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Three more days indeed.

More like May, actually… sorry guys but my spring break is almost over. On the upside, my last final is the 10th of May, so it's really only like a two month wait… and I'll be floating about reading and reviewing other people's stuff till then, I promise.

Let's see, next chapter will be the lemon you've all been waiting for! I was gonna stick it on the end of this chapter, but then the thing would've ended up being like 30 pages long, and I might not have finished it in time. It'll be an awesome enough stand-alone chapter.

Ok?

Well, I suppose that's all for me.

Have a Happy Day Everyone!

SR


	6. Chapter 6

Hey all,

So, I bet you all thought this story was dead, didn't you? Have faith, over a year between updates means absolutely nothing. It only reflects on how busy I've been… busy and full of writer's block. However, the latter annoyance seems to be receding… finally. Hopefully this story will pick back up to every-other-week updates very soon. Finals are in two-ish weeks, so after that I'll be free to write when I want again.

I've been procrastinating a lot lately by watching more anime than I should, and I have a few recommendations. Gankutsuou still, of course, because it is just so stinkin pretty. I also recently saw and fell in love with Gungrave. It's Trigun's little brother, and it's awesome. The relationship between Brandon and Harry somewhat reminds me of Aion and Chrno. It's cool, watch it. The same goes for Tehxnolyze, which is pretty to look at and to think about. Finally, if you at all enjoy completely senseless violence, sex jokes, and chaos, watch Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan. The entire series is two hours long, and it is excellent for a study break.

With that being said, this next chapter deviates a bit from the direction the story was headed in as of last chapter. This is a flashback-dream sequence type thing, and its point is to help set up the mood and explain things in the next chapter. Don't worry, next chapter is where the lemon is coming in.

**HUGS TO ALL REVIEWERS WHO HAVE STUCK WITH THIS!**

Enjoy!

SR

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**CRACK!!!!!!!**

Chrno winced and puffed out a breath, it was all he could really do anymore. Screaming and writhing against the bloody chains was a waste of energy, and judging by the growing sense of detachment enveloping his mind he really needed to conserve his energy right now.

**CRACK!!!!!!!**

It was disturbing how familiar he was becoming with death and the feeling of approaching it. It seemed like every day now, sometimes multiple times in the same hour, he would catch glimpses of death peeking at him from the edges of his blurred vision and waving morbidly.

**CRACK!!!!!!!**

The demon grunted, squirming slightly as a line of blood trickled down his face after overflowing from one of his saturated ears. The one benefit to having his ears filled with his own blood was that he could hardly hear the insults and threats constantly thrown at him. This allowed him to somewhat ignore his surroundings and slip into the recesses of his mind. Thus, while part of him was always conscious and registering the abuses of the day, most of him was hidden away, absorbed in memories. The inside of his head was the only real retreat in this hell-hole, and he knew that if he couldn't have these mental escapes, he would lose it.

**CRACK!!!!!!!**

Chrno forced his bleary eyes open for a few moments, a bit surprised because he had hardly even felt that one. However, the reason that he had become so numb quickly became apparent, for all the color and sharpness had drained from his vision; and what he could see was rapidly fading down a long tunnel into blackness. _Ah_, he thought with a mental smile that barely registered on his face, _time to die again_.

His eyes slid shut, body relaxing completely as all the muted noises that he could hear slowly died down and left him completely alone in his mind. Vaguely, he registered another crack of the whip as its barbed fangs tore into his already shredded back and wings. It didn't bother him though, because as he descended further into himself things started to brighten up.

In an instant he was out in the middle of an open field. The air was warm and smelled of clover, a gentle breeze blew through his intact wings, and the sounds of familiar laughter filled his ears. A pure smile grew on his face, running as wide as possible. He looked up at the sky, perfectly blue and speckled with cottony white clouds. This place was beautiful. If he had to pick anywhere in the world that he'd like to be, this would be it.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, the demon turned and looked down into a pair of eyes mirroring the sky in their hue, but housing a unique and lively sparkle all their own. Their owner pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear and grinned.

Chrno's heart melted. He held out a hand and she took it, leading him across the field to a cheerful red checkered picnic blanket laid out with a huge and tasty looking lunch. As they approached the blanket a light stream of laughter floated over to the demon's pointed ears. He squeezed Rosette's hand gently and turned his head to look across the field in the direction of the mirthful sounds. There, at the other side of the meadow, Joshua and Azmaria appeared to be playing tag; racing back and forth like puppies chasing butterflies. Rosette giggled and called out, raising her hand into the warm air and waving at the cavorting pair. They paused briefly in their game to wave back before resuming the chase, racing into and out of the woods as their whims lead them. Rosette peeked back over her shoulder at the demon and tugged on his hand, grinning and urging him onward. They ran the rest of the way to the blanket and landed on it in a giggling heap.

Hours passed. They ate, talked, touched, watched the sky… It was perfect. As the day wore into afternoon Chrno put his arm around Rosette's waist, and she simply laughed and laid her head on his shoulder. He was so happy… it was all he could think about as he rested his head on top of hers, inhaling in the sweet scent of her silky hair. He'd never been more at peace in his life…

**SMACK!!!!!**

Chrno groaned and opened his bleary eyes, just in time to visualize a large fist before it slammed into his nose again.

"I said wake up, you useless sack o' guts!"

Growling low after being forcefully uprooted from his happy place, Chrno slid his eyes open again and glared at his tormenter, a terrifyingly large feathered demon with a deformed, constantly drooling mouth. The purple haired demon hissed and wrinkled up his smashed nose, knowing that the red gore coating the bird demon in front of him was composed of little bits of his back and wings from the earlier whipping he'd received.

The bird demon sneered, not difficult for him to do as his melted mouth was formed into an almost constant frown already. "Fought we'd actually let you go this time, did ya?" He paused, raising one of his bear-like mitts up to brush away the line of green-flecked spittle dripping down his chin. "You're not allowed to die yet. You still got lotsa sins ta pay fo'."

Chrno glared at the torturer more intently, bitterly thinking that the brute in front of him had been ordered to stop just in time yet again. He'd been so close to escaping this place permanently… no helping it now. Discretely, the sinner flexed the muscles in his back and stretched his wings to gauge how much they'd healed while he was unconscious. No pain was registering anywhere, and that meant the beatings would resume soon. Curse it.

"Ey!" Chrno sank a fang into his lip to keep from crying out as a searing pain shot through his ear. He lifted his head to relieve the pain slightly and found himself face to disfigured face with the foul-smelling bird demon. With a small stab of irritation, Chrno noted that the other demon had used two of its talons to pierce his ear and yank his face upwards, which explained the pain. Oh, what he would have done to the impudent fool if he wasn't chained in place…

"Who'zat gurl you been dreamin about?" The inquiry immediately got Chrno's attention. His face must have betrayed his surprise, as the bird demon's lips soon split into a pathetic excuse for a grin; an air of superiority riding his features.

"Wot, didn't fink a lower level like me could read ya, your fuckin majesty?" His words left a track of foul, phlegmy saliva across Chrno's face, and the higher ranking demon frowned in disgust. This only served to egg the bird on, and he gave another tug on Chrno's injured ear, grinning at the low growl that rumbled its way through his victim's chest.

"Where's ya grand ol' freedom now, eh? Ya kill 'undreds o Pandemonium's finest, my dear brother among 'em, and look at wat came out o' it. Chained up ta my whippin' post." The bird's dull, grey eyes lit up slightly and he chuckled, again wiping his bottom lip with the back of a hand. "If dat ain't justice for ya, I dunno what is."

Chrno smoldered for a bit, meeting the dullard's eyes with a steadily hardening gaze. The low-level brute was starting to piss him off. First, the insolent scum had spent the better part of today shearing the top layers of skin and muscle off his back and wings, an extremely painful experience that had almost killed him…again. Second, he had somehow managed to pick up on the unconscious dream that Chrno cherished and went out of his way to hide. Third, he was currently yanking him along by the ear. The bird must have been at least four full ranks below the position that Chrno had before he left Pandemonium, and the fact that he dared to toy with the higher ranking demon did not sit well at all.

"An' here I fought ya might'a actu'lly kicked da bucket dis time." Apparently the bird wasn't done mouthing off yet. Chrno's patience was wearing thinner and thinner with each word that spilled out of his disgusting mouth. "So's I come down ta smack ya about a bit, ya know? Make good an sure ya was still twitchin'… and wat do I find?" The bloody-feathered bird tightened his grip on Chrno's ear and leaned in so that he was just a few inches from the other demon's nose. "You're fuckin' dreamin about little 'uman gurlies. I mean, I knew ya was messed up before, but nuffin like that." Chrno felt his eyes start to glaze over with gold as the torturer struck a nerve. Who was this wretched ingrate to judge him? Who was he to even think about Rosette? If he so much as mentioned her name he'd regret it for the rest of his very short life…

"I mean, even if you get out o' here," That infuriating grin rolled over the bird's malformed lips again, "And ya won't. It's not like she's a waitin for ya. Fuck, she might even be dead already." Chrno was seething. Waves of anger rolled through his body causing a few muscles to spasm along the way, begging him to strike out and silence the feathered form before him.

"Yeah, dead and rotted. Getting' all et up by wurms." The bird chuckled and Chrno snarled, fighting the urge to snap through the chains and beat his malformed skull in. "Even if you're really lucky and your little sweetheart is up there when ya get loose, you know that 'ventually she's gonna die and you're gonna live. Forever, and ever. Aaaaaaaaaall alone." With that, the bird tipped his head back and indulged in a hearty laugh, spraying rank spittle everywhere and flaunting his enjoyment in the more powerful demon's enraged face.

Chrno was beyond anger. He could hardly even see straight. This demon had tortured his flesh, invaded his privacy, and spoken ill of his Rosette; not to mention hit upon a few of the stronger demon's secret fears that he didn't know how to deal with yet. As far as the sinner was concerned, that completely voided his right to live.

Slipping into pure instinct, Chrno trained his ears on the other demon's throat, listening to the sluggish pulsing of blood through his vital arteries and veins. The bird's frame teetered back and forth with each racking breath, and the higher ranking demon quickly picked up on the pattern, carefully timing his strike. On the foul bird's next exhalation he came just within range, and the sinner struck. With a frightening roar, he lunged forward, straining his battered flesh against the grip of the chains, and sank his teeth deep into the bird's throat.

The stricken demon's delighted laughter immediately turned into a choked gurgle, and quickly to a sputter as Chrno's fangs met in the middle of his neck. His taloned hands swiftly rose to the site of the injury, trying to beat the other demon off, but failing miserably. Chrno simply shut his eyes and held on, rage numbing the pain of the scratches he received in attempted retribution. The struggle was short lived, the bird's blows quickly losing their sting and his sputtering quickly giving way to a juicy rasping as his lungs struggled to draw in a bloodless breath of air.

Chrno waited, instinctively maintaining his hold until all the bird could do was jerk weakly against his teeth. Finally, the purple haired demon separated from his captor with a single, violent tug. The bird swayed drunkenly, pathetically grasping at his severed throat as he fought to maintain his footing. His grey eyes rolled as things started to go out of focus, coming to rest with a surprised and accusatory stare on the demon who had taken his life. With one last wheezing gurgle, the bird went limp and collapsed, resting morbidly in a pool of his own blood as the last breath of life flew from him.

Lifting his lip in disgust, Chrno spat out the lump of flesh in his mouth and glared coldly down at the bird demon's body. No matter how hard he tried to calm himself down, he just couldn't stop growling. The other demon had unknowingly hit a very raw nerve, and had paid for it with his pitiable excuse for a life. As the gold began to fade from the whites of his eyes, and the alarmed shouts of the other guards began to reach his ears, the sinner found that his mind only wanted to focus on one thing.

_Even if I make it out of here…_

_Even if she's alive and wants to see me…_

_She'll die._

_I'll be alone again…_

_Again…_

"No… Rosette…"

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So, there it is. Like I said at the beginning, the point of this chapter will make more sense once I get the next chapter up. Which should be within the next month. Really.

Please review, and have a happy day!

SR


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